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FACT BRIEF

Did the CEO of Coca-Cola say boycotters are 'a few right winged nuts'?

By Dana Ford
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NO

There's no publicly available evidence that Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey ever said that. A spokesman for Coca-Cola said the quote in a social media post is fabricated.

The false post was likely inspired by a controversy. In February 2021, images of slides, reportedly from Coca-Cola online racism training for staff, became public. The slides urged staff to "try to be less white."

Coca-Cola responded to the controversy in a statement dated March 2, 2021, stressing that the content, available through its training platform, was not part of its training curriculum. The statement read, it part:

"We apologize to those who were offended by this content. We would never encourage anyone to be any less of themselves."

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Newsweek Coca-Cola, Facing Backlash, Says 'Be Less White' Learning Plan Was About Workplace Inclusion
Coca-Cola Co. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Training | Company Statement
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.