Glenn Beck corners Cracker Barrel CEO: Did DEI influence the rebrand? — Her surprising answer
Last week, Glenn Beck released an exclusive, tell-all interview with Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino that extracted the juiciest details regarding the country chain’s disastrous and quickly walked-back attempt to modernize its beloved old-timey brand. Glenn pulled no punches about the failed revamp: It was “just stupid from start to finish.”
Masino insisted that it was never her intention to change the iconic Cracker Barrel brand. She claimed that her goals were to boost engagement after COVID did immeasurable revenue damage, address common customer complaints (like uncomfortable chairs and dim lighting), and make practical adjustments to a busy logo that wasn’t conducive to an iPhone screen.
“The intent was not ideological. It was not to put the old version of Cracker Barrel in a box,” she vowed.
But given the fact that many believe the rebranding was indeed rooted in left-wing dogma, like DEI, Glenn asked the question point-blank: “Had the company embraced DEI as a culture?”
Masino initially gave an indirect answer: “Cracker Barrel has always been about welcoming everybody in. I think before I was here, we had different policies. We’re here to take care of people. We’re here to make sure everybody can work here, can be welcome here.”
But Glenn, unsatisfied with her response, pressed harder: “Every American wants that. ... When a brand ... all of a sudden makes it a point of saying, ‘Boys can be girls, and they should be in the girls’ locker room,’ I don’t need that from my brand; I don’t want that from my brand. You as individuals can make whatever choice you want, but don’t preach to me from a corporate place.”
“What I’m asking you — was [making political statements] part of any of the strategy?” he repeated.
“No, it’s pancakes. Yeah, we’re not trying to make political statements,” Masino said, insisting the rebranding initiative was always about “food and experience.”
Glenn pushed back again with the analogy of “Uncle Ted” moving into Grandma’s house. “He’s now taking care of Grandma, but he’s getting rid of all of the doilies that have been on Grandma’s table, and you’re like, ‘That’s not Grandma.’”
“You were messing with Grandma’s house,” he boldly accused.
“We’re sorry that that’s what people feel. That was not the intent. ... It hurts me because I don’t want people to be mad at Cracker Barrel. Our job is to make people love Cracker Barrel,” Masino said.
“And so, even trying to invite new people in, it was always about, how do we show them the magic that is Cracker Barrel, the stories of America, the stories of our guests? ... That’s what we want everybody to love.”
To hear more of the interview, watch the video above.
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Country music's MOST popular song is AI-generated
The number one country song in America isn’t sung by a human. Instead it was generated entirely by AI — which may have devastating implications for music, creativity, and the very definition of humanity.
The song “Walk My Walk” is by AI artist Breaking Rust and features lyrics like, “Every scar’s a story that I survived / I’ve been through hell, but I’m still alive.”
“They say slow down, boy, don’t go too fast / But I ain’t never been one to live in the past,” croons the AI artist.
“If you look at some of the lyrics of this song, I mean it talks about how he’s been dragged through the mud. He’s, you know, had to really stand. I mean, it doesn’t know any of this stuff. None of it is real. And yet it is assembling it in a way that is so appealing, it’s number one on the Billboard country music chart,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”
“The whole world is about to change,” he continues. “You know, I just heard Elon Musk say that in five years, there’s not going to be phones or apps. It will just be some sort of a box or device that you kind of carry around with you and it’s listening. It’s anticipating. It’s AI.”
“And it will know what you want to hear, what you want, and it will create the music you want to hear. It will create the podcast you want to hear. It will do all this stuff for you. So we will be in our own universe even more than we are right now,” he adds.
This has led Glenn to ask some serious introspective questions like, “If AI can fake being a human and sing soulfully while not having a soul, what does it mean to be human?”
“I think a lot of people won’t care,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in. “Like, people won’t care if it is made by humans or not if they like it. And they seem to like it.”
While both Glenn and Stu agree AI will likely take over the arts, Glenn believes that “handmade is going to come back into style at some point.”
“Human-made will come back into style,” he says. “But ... we’re going to go through a period where it’s going to get really scary.”
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CNN destroys Jasmine Crockett for ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ smear
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas very confidently claimed on the House floor that Republicans, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, had taken money from Jeffrey Epstein. However, that Jeffrey Epstein was not the Jeffrey Epstein.
Crockett boomed into the microphone that Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Rick Lazio took money from a man named Jeffrey Epstein.
And in a segment on CNN, Crockett tried to spin her mistake when Kaitlan Collins asked about her defense of Democrat House Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who had been exposed for texting Jeffrey Epstein.
“You mentioned Lee Zeldin there. He’s now a cabinet secretary. He responded and said it was actually Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, who’s a doctor that doesn’t have any relation to the convicted sex trafficker. Unfortunate for that doctor, but that is who donated to a prior campaign of his,” Collins said.
“Do you want to correct the record?” Collins asked.
“I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett responded. “Just so that people understand, when you make a donation, your picture is not there, and because they decided to spring this on us in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen because I knew that they didn’t even try to go through the FEC.”
“So, my team, what they did is they Googled. And that is specifically why I said, ‘a Jeffrey Epstein.’ Unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies, because it was not the same one,” she continued.
“But when Lee Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein. So at least I wasn’t trying to mislead people,” she added.
Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is not buying it.
“You clearly were smearing,” Glenn laughs.
“She’s trying to say, ‘Well, I didn’t lie,’” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in. “Like that’s your defense in theory, right?”
Burguiere also points out that Crockett was proud of adding an “a” in front of “Jeffrey Epstein,” but she shouldn’t be.
“She knew she was lying. She knew there was a good chance this wasn’t Jeffrey Epstein,” he says.
“She’s insane,” Glenn adds.
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