FIRST ON FOX: Cracker Barrel confirmed it had removed the Pride section from its website and claimed it made changes to its business resource groups, in a statement obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.
“In connection with the Company’s brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing of out-of-date content,” a Cracker Barrel spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Cracker Barrel’s Pride page, which listed the Nashville Pride Parade it sponsored, was no longer visible on its website when Fox News Digital checked Wednesday. The website link for the page now redirects to the restaurant chain’s “Culture and Belonging” site.
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“At Cracker Barrel, welcoming people has always been at the heart of who we are. When we take care of one another, we are able to take even better care of the people who walk through our doors,” the page states.
The “Old Country Store” was under intense scrutiny by conservative activists, including Robby Starbuck and Chris Rufo, over its past support of LGBT causes.
Cracker Barrel previously sponsored the 2024 Nashville Pride Parade and unveiled a line of rainbow-colored rocking chairs for Pride month. The company also has an LGBT business resource group called the “LGBTQ+ Alliance,” along with groups for veterans and other communities.
The spokesman also confirmed to Fox News Digital that Cracker Barrel changed its BRGs “months ago” to focus more on the brand’s corporate giving objectives. While the BRGs were all still listed on the company’s “Culture and Belonging” page Wednesday, they have all since been removed.
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“Several months ago, the Company also made changes to our Business Resource Groups that now focus all sponsorships or events on our corporate giving initiatives: addressing food insecurity, supporting community needs through food, and reducing food waste,” the Cracker Barrel spokesperson said.
The founder of Cracker Barrel’s LGBT group later served on the Human Rights Campaign’s Business Advisory Council. The HRC is known for its Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies on LGBT workplace policies. Critics argue the HRC uses the index to pressure corporations into adopting progressive policies.
Cracker Barrel previously told Fox News Digital it “has not participated in the Human Rights Campaign Index or had any affiliation with HRC in several years.”
Cracker Barrel received a score of zero on the inaugural index in 2002. The chain was criticized in the 1990s for discrimination against gay employees. In 1991, the company adopted a corporate policy stating that any worker who failed to demonstrate “normal heterosexual values” would be fired.
Eleven employees were terminated under the rule, leading to boycotts and protests nationwide. Over time, Cracker Barrel’s HRC score improved, reaching 80 in 2021 after the company took several public pro-LGBT stances.
In 2014, it pulled “Duck Dynasty” products from its shelves after star Phil Robertson made remarks that many deemed to be homophobic. In 2019, the restaurant chain barred a pastor from hosting an event at one of its 660 locations after he preached that homosexuals were “freaks” and “animals” who are “worthy of death” in a sermon.
Cracker Barrel has been the subject of mass consumer outrage over efforts to rebrand and redesign its restaurants. The new interiors dropped the kitschy Americana aesthetic Cracker Barrel was known for in favor of a scaled-down modernist theme.
The new, simplified logo dropped the image of an old man leaning over a barrel and instead just included the company’s name over a yellow barrel shape.
However, it announced this week that it would return to its former logo with “The Old Timer” in response to the backlash.
“We thank your guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” the restaurant chain said in a statement to FOX Business. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain. At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been — and always will be — about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family.”
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