Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

McDonald's CEO Apologizes After Blaming Parents For Shooting Of Young Black Girl In Drive-Thru

McDonald's CEO Apologizes After Blaming Parents For Shooting Of Young Black Girl In Drive-Thru
Scott Olson/Getty Images

The CEO of McDonald's has apologized after texts he sent about a tragic incident that occurred at one of his restaurants were made public.

McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski was recently put on blast for texting racist comments in response to the shooting and subsequent death of a 7-year-old Black girl in a Chicago, Illinois McDonald's drive-thru.


The incident, which took place in April of this year, occurred when Jontae Adams and his 7-year-old daughter, Jaslyn Adams, pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru. While they were waiting to order, two men exited their car and fired shots into the Adams' car.

Jontae was wounded and Jaslyn, tragically, passed away from her wounds.

Recently, text messages were made public through a Freedom of Information Act request. They show a conversation between Kempczinski and Chicago Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The conversation took place on April 19, one day after the shooting.

These texts show Kempczinski making ignorant and cruel comments to Lightfoot in which he blames Adams' death—as well as the March 29 police shooting of Black 13 year-old Adam Toledo—on bad parenting.

 

Kempczinski wrote:

"p.s. tragic shootings in last week, both at our restaurant yesterday and with Adam Toldeo (sic). With both, the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can't say. Even harder to fix."

To which Lightfoot, a Black woman, responded:

"Thanks, Chris. Great to see you in person,."
"Such a great work space, and your folks were terrific. I said to Joe I would be happy reach out to the operator to offer support. He and his team members have got to be traumatized. Terrible tragedy. Thanks again, Chris. MLL."

The public is outraged that Kempczinksi, a rich, White CEO, would blame Black children's deaths on "bad parenting."

Independent news magazine Education Week's Stephanie Fryberg and Megan Bang suggest parent-blaming is a response often used "to justify the systemic inequities and inhumane treatment of nonWhite and poor families" by those who would rather not confront the prevalence of systemic racism.

Baltazar Enriquez, President of the Mexican-American community non-profit organization Little Village Community Council, had a scathing response to Kempczinski's ignorance.

He said:

"If he really feels that it's the mothers' fault, of them being the culprits of their kids' deaths, then he should fund our communities with all the profits that he takes."

In response to Lightfoot's surprisingly cheery demeanor, Enriquez said:

"These big corporations are Lori Lightfoot's boss."

Even McDonald's employees are fuming over the incident.

In fact, Chicago McDonald's workers are currently protesting in response to Kempczinski's comments, which they called "ignorant, racist, and unacceptable."

 


In an interview, McDonald's employee Adriana Sanchez said:

"He doesn't know the circumstances of these parents. A large number of them are single mothers who are just doing their best and sacrifice."
"He can't relate because he's wealthy, and we are not, and he doesn't understand our struggle...Oftentimes we have to work two jobs because the wages are so low; we're forced to sometimes leave our kids at home alone to go to work."

The Twitter community is rightfully outraged about Kempczinski's racially offensive comments.

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

After the release of Kempczinski's messages, Lightfoot released a statement about the incident.

She said:

"Families do everything they can — moms, dads, grandparents — to love and support their children, and tragedies can still happen."
"Victim shaming has no place in the conversation."

Kempczinski, after facing the backlash from his actions, has since released a statement apologizing for his texts.

He said:

"(I was) thinking through my lens as a parent and reacted viscerally. But I have not walked in the shoes of Adam's or Jaslyn's family and so many others who are facing a very different reality."
"Not taking the time to think about this from their viewpoint was wrong, and lacked the empathy and compassion I feel for these families. This is a lesson that I will carry with me."

More from Trending

Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less

Things People Do In Relationships That Seem Sweet But Are Actually Toxic

Content Warning: Controlling and Toxic Relationship Behaviors

We've all either been involved in or witnessed a relationship where we saw something that we thought was cute or sweet at first, but we eventually found the behavior to be troubling or "too much."

Keep ReadingShow less
A piggy bank surrounded by loose change.
coin bank

'Poor Person Habits' People Won't Give Up No Matter How Rich They Get

When money is tight, we look for every possible way to avoid spending it.

As much as we might find ourselves missing out on some of the nicer things life has to offer, we find ourselves contented by the fact that we will always have enough money in our bank accounts to pay our bills on time.

Keep ReadingShow less