Unilever and its demerged ice cream enterprise, Magnum, have been sued for defamation by Anuradha Mittal, in line with a report from Reuters.
The transfer follows Mittal’s removing as chair final yr, after Magnum Ice Cream stated she now not met “the factors” to function a member of the Ben & Jerry’s Board.
Mittal joined the Ben & Jerry’s board in 2007 and was appointed as its chairperson in 2018. Regardless of the strain, she stated she had no plans to resign.
In line with the information outlet, Mittal’s grievance stated her assist for Palestinian rights and a ceasefire “rankled” the then guardian firm of Magnum – Unilever.
In a submitting printed in 2025, Magnum stated it believed that the governance construction of Ben & Jerry’s may pose dangers to the repute and operations of the group with the potential for “misalignment” between choices taken or public statements made by the Ben & Jerry’s Board, its members or others related to Ben & Jerry’s.
The assertion added that along with taking choices or making public bulletins which can be inconsistent with the group’s technique and goals, the Ben & Jerry’s Board, its members or others related to Ben & Jerry’s might also try to deliver authorized claims and make public statements in opposition to the corporate or different members of the Group the place they could consider that the actions of the corporate infringe on their major tasks for the “social mission” or “important integrity” of the Ben & Jerry’s model.
It stated: “Such actions may equally end in reputational harm, shopper boycotts of merchandise, investor claims or antagonistic shifts in shopper behaviour.”
Posting to Linked In, Mittal wrote: “The narrative that Unilever and the Magnum Ice Cream Firm have put ahead — that the Board should be modified as a way to “make sure the longevity of the social mission” — is not only inaccurate, it’s inverted logic.
“The Unbiased Board was created for the very objective of guaranteeing that longevity. To recommend that the Board is by some means the menace to the mission is precisely the other of what the merger settlement envisioned.”
On-going battle over Ben & Jerry’s independence
That is the most recent in a long-running dispute between the businesses. Ben & Jerry’s filed a lawsuit in opposition to Unilever in November 2024 accusing the agency of silencing the ice cream maker’s makes an attempt communicate out in opposition to Israel’s assaults on the Gaza Strip in addition to its requires a everlasting and speedy ceasefire.
In September 2025, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s wrote to the Board of The Magnum Ice Cream Firm (TMICC) asking for the model to be made unbiased. The request was denied, with TMICC saying the enterprise isn’t on the market.
Shortly after, co-founder Jerry Greenfield stop, saying the model had misplaced its independence below Unilever’s possession, regardless of an settlement defending its social mission when it was acquired in 2000.
“It’s profoundly disappointing to come back to the conclusion that that independence, the very foundation of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” Greenfield stated on the time.
Earlier this week, the Ben & Jerry’s Basis – a social justice arm funded by the ice cream model – stated it had gained a courtroom ruling to hitch a lawsuit in opposition to The Magnum Ice Cream Firm. The lawsuit challenges the guardian firm over its contractual obligations and independence.
Responding to Mittal’s newest allegations, a Unilever spokesperson instructed Meals Manufacture “We reject these unfounded claims. We’re assured that the details will present the allegations are solely missing in advantage.”
TMICC, Ben & Jerry’s, and the Ben & Jerry’s Basis have been contacted for remark.
