Owner / Alignment: Brown-Forman, parent of Jack Daniel’s, announced an August 2024 rollback of its DEI programs: ending participation in the HRC Corporate Equality Index, eliminating quantitative supplier-diversity targets, and ending tying of executive compensation to demographic DEI metrics. The company remains a Kentucky-headquartered family-controlled distiller with mixed political donations.
Summary
Brown-Forman is the publicly traded, family-controlled distiller behind Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, and other major spirits brands. In August 2024 it joined the corporate-DEI rollback wave following a Jack Daniel’s-themed drag-show controversy, announcing it would exit the HRC Corporate Equality Index and end demographic-based supplier and compensation targets. Its political profile is otherwise relatively balanced.
Claims & Sources
Claim 1: In August 2024, Brown-Forman announced it was ending participation in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, eliminating quantitative supplier-diversity targets, and ending the tying of executive compensation to demographic DEI metrics.
Sources: Reuters — Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman rolls back its DEI policies
Claim 2: The August 2024 rollback followed a conservative consumer-pressure campaign tied to a 2023 Jack Daniel’s drag-show promotion that had drawn boycotts similar to those affecting Bud Light.
DEI hiring goals & quotas (heavy-weighted criterion): In August 2024, Brown-Forman rolled back its DEI programs: exiting the HRC Corporate Equality Index, eliminating quantitative supplier-diversity targets, and ending demographic-DEI-linked executive compensation. This earns the +2 heavy-weighted bonus.
Sources: Reuters — Brown-Forman rolls back DEI policies