Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Quits, Says Ice Cream Brand Is Being ‘Silenced’ by Parent Company for Their Activism

A co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s is leaving the company after 47 years.

Late at night on Tuesday, Sept. 16, Jerry Greenfield, 74, announced that he was resigning and claimed that his brand was being silenced by its parent company.

The news came after Unilever announced they would be separating their ice cream businesses to be under the Magnum Ice Cream Company, with Ben & Jerry’s asking to be released from its ownership just last week, according to U.K. newspaper Independent.

“It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s,” Greenfield said in a statement released by his business partner, Ben Cohen. “I am resigning from the company Ben and I started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made.”

Greenfield emphasized that his love for Ben & Jerry’s remains and that the brand’s employees who work at the factories, offices and shops “are the soul” of the company.

In his statement, Greenfield insisted that Ben & Jerry’s previously had the “independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed when Unilever bought the company.”

“For more than twenty years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts but in relation to real events happening in our world,” Greenfield continued. 

He went on to say, “It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”

“And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community,” Greenfield added.

“Standing up for the values of justice, equity and our shared humanity has never been more important, yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power,” Greenfield continued. “It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk.”

He wrote that the “real test of values” comes when someone has “something to lose,” saying that if the company wouldn’t stand for his values of love, justice and equity, then it’s “not worth being a company at all.”

In the caption, co-founder Cohen, also 74, expressed his sadness and support over Greenfield’s resignation.

“I never thought I would have to write this, but after 47 years Jerry has made the difficult decision to stand down from the company we built together,” Cohen said. “I am sharing his own words as he resigns from Ben & Jerry’s.”

Cohen added, “His legacy deserves to be true to the values we founded this company on, not silenced by @magnum. Help us #FreeBenandJerrys – sign up at https://freebenandjerrys.com.”

“We will be forever grateful to Jerry for his role in co-founding such an amazing ice cream company, turning his passion for delicious ice cream and addressing social causes into a remarkable success story,” a spokesperson for the Magnum Ice Cream Company told PEOPLE in a statement. “We thank him for his service and support over many decades and wish him well in his next chapter.”

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Despite offering kind words for Greenfield, the spokesperson also clarified that Magnum disagrees with the co-founder’s perspective, claiming they “have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world.”

“We remain committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission — product, economic and social — and remain focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand,” the Magnum spokesperson continued. “Ben & Jerry’s is a proud and thriving part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and we look forward to further building on its success.”