Exclusive LEAK from inside Target HQ. Here’s how employees reacted to last year’s boycott



2023 saw several boycotts, but Bud Light and Target were by far the pack leaders when it came to the companies that made the horrible financial decision to go woke.

For those who need a refresher, last year, Target included tuck-friendly swimsuits and chest-binding garments (some of them marketed toward children), among other controversial items, in its Pride Month collection. A boycott quickly ensued, resulting in the company losing “$10 billion in market valuation in ten days.”

Now, a year later, Glenn Beck discloses insider information shared by an anonymous Target corporate employee — including leaked internal messages between the members of Target’s “Pride + Business Council.”

“Last year, our team was given exclusive access to internal messages that took place on Target's Slack channel for their ‘Pride + Business Council,”’ he says.

Here are some of the messages exchanged between corporate employees following a town hall meeting framed around reducing some of the company’s more controversial merchandise:

  • “It feels like LT wants to keep support on the downlow. Like, they want to be able to point to it if people…make a fuss but don’t want to advertise it for people who might disagree.”
  • “See? We need to cater to the bigots better to get our sales up.”
  • “That was the most gaslight-y, dystopian thing I’ve witnessed in a while.”
  • “We need to protect ourselves. There are consequences for hateful statements and displays.”
  • “I’m still in shock and disgusted!!!!!!!!!!!!”
  • “I’m sure a lot of people are examining whether they even want to continue being a team member after this.”
  • “Kinda hard to get back to work after that one.”

“While we were saying Target went too far, the employees were upset that they hadn't gone far enough,” Glenn translates, adding “We don't know what they said at the leadership of Target,” but “surely it had to be sexist, racist tirades that started this chaos.”

However, there were also employees on the other side of the spectrum. Here are some of their messages:

  • “I am a Christian, and don’t support violence against guests/TMs. I also don’t hate people who view differently than myself, however, for some to say my Biblical views are disgusting is certainly not inclusive.”
  • “The people in the chat need to take a look at past years pride assortment and compare it to this years assortment. The backlash this year has been specific to gender + children. To imply that leadership is now bowing down to 'bigots' is highly offensive!”
  • “Because not all people agree that giving hormones to kids (which only provides long term health issues) is a good thing. So inclusivity means ignoring the 95% of population to make sure the 5% are able to keep grooming kids?”
  • “Read about some of the stories of young girls who had a mastectomy at 13 & now in their 20’s have horrible health issues from the hormones they have taken. I don’t care what an adult does, but kids should be left alone.”
  • “Our leadership team has difficult decisions to make. They answer to something called 'shareholders.' To accuse them of bowing down 1 month out of 12 is unfair. We are also responsible for thousands of team members jobs. Please don’t attack your leadership or your fellow team members when you don’t know their heart. We are a business and this is capitalism.”

These comments, in addition to others, resulted in Target leadership sending out a company-wide letter condemning the messages and reiterating that the company “does not tolerate discrimination or hate speech of any kind.”

But the Pride + Business Council wasn’t satisfied and sent the leadership team a list of demands, including “acknowledgment of harm, a sincere apology, and a clear statement of unwavering support for the LGBTQ+ community.”

The department’s memo also included the following statement: “We have always regarded Target as an inclusive and progressive company. However, these recent events have called into question the company’s commitment to these values.”

Further, it stated that “the removal of some of the Pride collection was disappointing and distressing, so for the company to atone, they needed Target to acknowledge in writing the harm done to the LGBTQ+ community (explicitly the trans and non-binary members of the community), forge partnerships with prominent LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, immediately reinstate the Pride collection in full ... donate to LGBTQ+ causes, implement sensitivity training for employees, and cease all contributions to politicians and organizations that do not support the LGBTQ+ community,” reads Glenn, adding that “this is so crazy.”

Bottom line: Target, even at the pinnacle of its Pride collection (don’t forget the company also partnered with a trans satanic artist), wasn’t woke enough for many of its employees.

To get the full story, watch the clip below.


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Target learned a lesson: Pride Month plans already upsetting LGBTQ activists



After facing backlash, Target will limit which stores sell LGBTQ-themed merchandise for Pride Month.

Last year, the retail giant became the target of a boycott for selling "tuck-friendly" bathing suits, LGBTQ onesies for babies, and other pro-trans and pro-LGBT merchandise. Target later removed some of the LGBTQ products — or moved them to less trafficked areas of their stores — after losing billions of dollars in market value.

'Target’s decision is disappointing and alienates LGBTQ+ individuals.'

The backlash resulted in a sizeable drop in revenue for the second quarter of 2023.

Target executives have seemingly learned their lesson.

This year, Target will use its discretion when placing LGBTQ products in its stores, only selling such items "in select stores, based on historical sales performance," the company announced last week.

That's a significant policy change. In previous years, Target offered Pride Month merchandise in all of its retail stores.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Despite the change, Target still wants everyone to know it is an LGBTQ ally.

A company spokesperson said:

Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round. Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target.

The ferociously pro-LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign, meanwhile, is upset at Target's decision.

"Pride merchandise means something," claimed HRC president Kelley Robinson. "LGBTQ+ people are in every zip code in this country, and we aren’t going anywhere. With LGBTQ+ people making up 30% of Gen Z, companies need to understand that community members and allies want businesses that express full-hearted support for the community. That includes visible displays of allyship. Target’s decision is disappointing and alienates LGBTQ+ individuals and allies at the risk of not only their bottom line but also their values."

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Joe Rogan & Ice Cube’s BRUTALLY honest conversation + Bud Light costs less than WATER?!



Dave Rubin plays a clip of Joe Rogan and Ice Cube’s blunt conversation about how woke companies have become.

Unsurprisingly, Bud Light and Target dominated their discussion.

“I think about the companies that own these companies,” Ice Cube says. “Why would they let a decision like that take the company down?” he asks in reference to Bud Light’s marketing campaign featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

“I don’t think they thought it was going to,” Rogan responds. “They just pushed too far, and people went f**k you.”

“So why did Target do the same thing?” Ice Cube asks.

“I think that’s an ESG thing,” Rogan says.

For those who don’t know, ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance score and is a way to essentially measure how woke a company is. That score then determines funding and what companies can and can’t do.

In short, it’s a way for the government to control corporations and ensure their agendas are being pushed.

But it’s clearly not going over well with consumers.

“Target lost billions of dollars … because people are sick of this sh*t,” Rogan says.

“They’re sick of social things like that – that are controversial – getting stuffed in your face and you have to accept it,” he continues.

“It’s not that people aren’t accepting of different lifestyles,” Rubin adds.

“When you walk into Target, you’re there to buy something, right? ... I don’t need to walk in and be bludgeoned with stuff that will have kids tucking their genitals so that they can pretend to be the other gender,” he explains.

As frustrating as these woke campaigns have been, there is some encouraging news: The backlash is working.

“The average person decided to put their money, use their wallet, elsewhere,” Rubin says.

“What that does,” he explains, is “make it so that you actually have some power.”

And that power is perhaps nowhere better displayed than in Bud Light’s “$20B Dylan Mulvaney disaster” that has resulted in the lager costing less than water at certain retailers.

Watch the full conversation here.


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Joe Rogan & Ice Cube Have a Brutal Warning for Woke Companies | Direct Message | Rubin Report

Joe Rogan & Ice Cube Have a Brutal Warning for Woke Companies | Direct Message | Rubin Report

Joe Rogan has a blistering reaction to this new boycott



Pride Month is nearly halfway over, and many people were over it and over the virtue-signaling by massive corporations before it even started.

One of those people is Joe Rogan, host of the podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" — which garners a couple hundred million listeners a month.

Rogan says he doesn’t want to walk down the Target aisles and have the Pride section with tucking bathing suits and pride wear for children shoved in his face.

“When I go to Target, I don’t want to see like f***ing tuck pants” that are “designed to help you tuck your d***. Like, hey, that’s not normal,” Rogan says.

Nor does he fail to see why people are angry with Bud Light.

“You’re just gonna send a f***ing can to some confused person — that uh, day 365 of womanhood — and you send that person a f***ing can with their face on and your company loses 20 billion dollars. That is wild s**t, man,” Rogan says to his guest, comedian Theo Von.

“So, we’re seeing that now, where we never saw that before. Where people are going ‘Enough, enough, stop shoving this down everybody’s throat,'” he continues.

Dave Rubin agrees with Rogan.

“That really is the issue. Does it have to be out there in front of everybody, and again, does it have to be aimed towards kids?”

Rubin believes that the reason it’s so refreshing to hear someone like Joe Rogan lay out his disdain for the over-saturation of Pride Month is because “he just kind of represents the average dude” who’s “not pretending to be anything other than what he is, and he’s had it.”

While some have criticized the boycotts of Target and Bud Light as aligned with cancel culture, Rubin disagrees, calling being canceled for an off-color comment “inorganic.”

He continues, saying that the people who listen to Joe Rogan, “that buy Bud Light, that maybe shop at Target, they’ve all had it. And that’s the beauty, because this is an organic movement.”


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Cracker Barrel faces boycott over 'woke' post celebrating Pride month, pushing DEI initiatives with LGBTQ+ alliance



Cracker Barrel is the latest brand facing a boycott over celebrating Pride month. Cracker Barrel received backlash for proudly announcing that the restaurant chain with southern comfort food was vowing to push DEI initiatives with an LGBTQ+ alliance.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store shared a post honoring Pride month on its official social media accounts on Thursday. The post featured a photo of a rainbow-colored version of the chain's iconic rocking chair sitting on the porch. The photo had the caption: "We are excited to celebrate Pride month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our rainbow rocker). Happy Pride!"

The post was shared on the company's Instagram and Facebook accounts. A majority of the reactions on Facebook approved of the post; however, there were thousands of social media users who railed against the Pride month messaging. Dozens of users vowed to boycott the restaurant chain.

Users asked that the restaurant chain stay out of politics and "stick to biscuits and gravy." Others threatened to boycott Cracker Barrel and never eat at the restaurant again for promoting "woke" ideologies.

On the Cracker Barrel website, the southern restaurant chain boasted about the company's "LGBTQ+ Alliance" and "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Team."

On behalf of Cracker Barrel’s LGBTQ+ Alliance & DEIB Team, we want to celebrate YOU for being YOU. It is our greatest Mission to ensure that Pleasing People means “all people.” LGBTQ+ Pride month each June is an important time to reflect on the Stonewall Riots that began on June 28, 1969, evoking activists to demand change for the LGBTQ+ community in America. As June prompts us to reflect on the core values of PRIDE: People/Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence, Cracker Barrel believes these are core pillars that should guide our decisions year-round.

The restaurant added, "This year Cracker Barrel's focus was to be part of the Pride experience."

\u201cWe take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen.\n\nA once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.\u201d
— Texas Family Project (@Texas Family Project) 1686251239

The Tennessee-based restaurant touts the company's "Business Resource Groups" which "allow employees to come together with common interests, perspectives, and experiences around topics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, and other special interests, space to be a community."

Cracker Barrel has several special interest groups within the organization, including:

  • LGBTQ+ Alliance: "Supporting Home Office and Field employees to bring their whole selves to work while strengthening Cracker Barrel's relationship to the LGBTQ+ community."
  • Be Bold: "The mission of Be Bold is to cultivate and develop Black Leaders within the Cracker Barrel organization utilizing allyship, mentorship, and education to create a path to continued excellence as well as a vibrant and diverse community."
  • HOLA: "HOLA's mission is to promote Hispanic and Latino culture through hiring, developing, and retaining talent within Cracker Barrel. To create a culture of inclusivity and awareness through community outreach."
  • Women's Connect: "Our mission & goal is to inspire the women of Cracker Barrel by empowering, educating and engaging to achieve the strategic initiatives of Cracker Barrel."

In 1991, Cracker Barrel faced another controversy when at least nine homosexual employees were fired for their sexual orientation.

The Los Angeles Times previously reported, "The chain recently issued a policy that cited 'traditional American values' and declared that it 'is perceived to be inconsistent with those of our customer base to continue to employ individuals in our operating units whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values which have been the foundation of families in our society.'"

Cracker Barrel later admitted that the decision may have been an "overreaction to the perceived values of our customers." The restaurant chain brought back the employees who had been terminated.

Recent boycotts relating to the current culture wars have been directed at Bud Light, Target, and Chick-fil-A.

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Washington Post article accuses 'bigoted' right-wing 'extremists' of inciting 'anti-democracy' Target boycott



The Washington Post is receiving pushback for publishing an article painting conservatives who support the Target boycott as "extremists" and opponents of democracy.

The Washington Post published an article titled: "Target gets caught in cultural crossfire over Pride month items."

The article about supposed right-wing extremism stemming from a retail boycott begins with the account of a female customer allegedly upset because Target was "carrying Pride month merchandise." The woman reportedly using her own scissors to cut her Target credit card in front of the guest services at a Target location in South Florida, and informed employees, "I am never shopping here again."

The manager of the store told the outlet that there were "several tense encounters that workers have reported over LGBTQ+ items." Ticked-off customers allegedly accused Target of "shoving your woke agenda down our throats," and employees were reportedly called "child groomers."

The article touched upon bomb threats that targeted several Target stores in multiple states. However, local news reports said the bomb threats were made by an individual who claimed to be angry that Target was cowardly for turning their back on the LGBTQ community and "decided to cater to the homophobic right-wing redneck bigots who protested and vandalized their store."

The article written by a retail reporter and a business reporter noted that Target decided to pull some items because of the backlash. Queer and transgender designers blamed "domestic terrorists" for Target taking their controversial products off the shelves.

The article painted the Target boycott with a broad brush that conservatives were upset that the national retail chain was selling LGBTQ merchandise. However, the article did not mention that the boycotts really took off after it was revealed that the big-box chain was selling "tuck-friendly" bathing suits, LGBTQ onesies for babies, and products from a transgender designer promoting Satanism, violence, and drug use.

"Though Pride month and other inclusivity initiatives have been around for years, they’ve increasingly become litmus tests for consumers, forcing companies to fully commit on social issues or yield to critics," the article read. "Target, one of the largest American general-merchandise retailers, said it has offered products celebrating Pride month for more than a decade."

The article cited "experts on extremism" to point the finger at right-wing influencers for inciting an "anti-democracy movements."

Lindsay Schubiner, who studies violent movements for the anti-extremism watchdog Western States Center, told the Washington Post, "It's not like any of this is all that unpredictable. We don’t always know exactly where these sort of anti-democracy actors are going to point to next, but the increase in threats and harassment from anti-democracy movements in the U.S. has become so frequent that this is something that absolutely just needs to be planned for."

Schubiner claimed that "bigoted and anti-democracy groups" will attempt various boycott tactics to "see what will stick."

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and chief executive of LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD, said, "As soon as you cede ground to extremists, you give them more permission."

Ellis claimed that Republican lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) "demonize" the LGBTQ community.

The WaPo article stated, "According to experts on extremism, the boycotts — and the threats and harassment that have extended from them — are part of a diffused but focused campaign that’s inflamed by influential conservatives exploiting TikTok and right-wing media."

The article named conservative commentator Matt Walsh as an "anti-LGBTQ" rabble-rouser who stirs up boycotts against woke companies.

A sizeable number of Twitter reactions to the Washington Post article laughed off the accusations that the Target boycott was based on extremism of any kind.

A person explained, "Today in the Narrative: if you stop shopping at places that endorse child sex changes, you’re an extremist."

One Twitter user said, "Parents not wanting their children being exposed to a satanic sex cult while they’re shopping at Target is not an example of extremism. Real extremism is offering LGBTQ-themed onesies for babies."

Another user stated, "You're calling a normal and fairly muted response to a corporate-sponsored upheaval in our social norms extremism."

Target has lost billions in market value since the boycott began, and the retailer's stock is recently down 14%.

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JPMorgan downgrades Target's stock, cites 'consumer pressures and recent company controversies'



JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, has downgraded Target's stock.

Analysts at the bank downgraded the retailer's stock from "overweight" to "neutral." This means that financial analysts were bullish on Target's stock, meaning they thought its share price was a good value compared to other stocks in its market. Generally speaking, "overweight" stocks are considered strong buys with valuable returns.

A "neutral" stock, then, is one that analysts believe is neither of good nor poor value.

JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers attributed the stock downgrade to market shifts and "recent company controversies."

"We continue to believe that the consumer is broadly weakening while the share of wallet shift away from goods (51% of [Target’s] sales) is ongoing," Horvers said, Market Watch reported.

"While still positive on a [three-year] basis, [Target] has been giving back share on a [one-year] view and we believe this share loss could accelerate into back to school and linger into holiday given consumer pressures and recent company controversies," Horvers explained. "This could turn [Target’s] traffic negative after an impressive run of 12 consecutive positive quarters."

Target became the target of backlash last month over an assortment of controversial products, including LGBTQ onesies, "tuck-friendly" bathing suits, drag queen books for children, and clothing promoting satanism.

Target eventually pulled some of the controversial products from its shelves and moved other controversial items to the rear of stores.

The retail giant's stock tumbled for nearly two weeks straight over the backlash. Some observers suggested Target may have faced the same fate as Bud Light. But on Thursday, Target finally snapped the streak of consecutive losing days on Wall Street.

Still, Target's stock has dropped 12% in 2023 despite the S&P 500 index making healthy gains.

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Joe Rogan sees something in this boycott that no one else sees



Joe Rogan might see something in the Bud Light boycott that no one else sees.

In a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," Rogan discusses the Bud Light boycott with fellow comedians Shane Gillis, Mark Normand, and Ari Shaffir.

While his three guests believe people will forget about Bud Light’s campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Rogan disagrees.

“There’s never been a brand that’s been hit like this before. This is a big deal,” Rogan said.

According to the New York Post, Bud Light sales have just suffered their worst week ever, with a fall of 25.7%. This follows a 24.6% drop in sales just last week, and the sixth consecutive week sales have plummeted since the Mulvaney campaign went public on April 1.

Dave Rubin has seen the stats and agrees with Rogan, saying “I don’t think Bud Light is coming back from this in any functional way, any time soon.”

However, Shane Gillis is convinced that Pride Month will save Bud Light.

“I swear to God, though, they’re going to get saved this month. Every single company on earth is going to do a gay commercial, all of June,” Gillis says.

While both Rubin and Rogan believe the bleeding will not stop for Bud Light, Rubin agrees that most companies will still be doing their best to seem like LGBTQ allies.

“We know it’s coming,” Rubin says.

But some have already been facing backlash.

According to the Daily Wire, Target is now coming under fire for donating more than $2.1 million to GLSEN — a company that supports “affirming learning environments for LGBTQ youth” and activates “supportive educators.”

GLSEN is even actively promoted in Target’s online store.


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NBC News tries to blame Target boycott on this



Target has come under fire for its controversial Pride collection, and the mainstream media has taken the opportunity to blame conservatives and misinformation.

In a recent announcement, Target said, “Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plan, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”

Target has removed the LGBTQ brand Abprallen from its stores and website. Abprallen’s store features satanic themes with messages like “Satan respects pronouns.”

The company is also reportedly reviewing its collection of “tuck-friendly” swimsuits, which allow men who have not had transgender surgery to conceal their nether regions while wearing women’s swimwear.

NBC News reported that these swimsuits have been “at the center of misinformation.”

Senior reporter at NBC News Ben Collins took to the cameras to explain.

“The misinformation here was that kids were being targeted with this stuff. They realize if they can threaten enough people, if they can scare enough people in real-life locations, that maybe support for the LGBTQ community will diminish among corporations,” Collins said.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis also went on NBC to discuss the matter.

“I think there’s this really small group who has an outsized voice at this moment in time, and it’s of hate, and it’s of discrimination, and it’s violent,” Ellis said.

Dave Rubin doesn’t see it the same way.

“Again, this is about kids. This stuff is always pushed in kids' sections,” Rubin says.

“They literally had a satanic trans person as the lead designer of all this, and they were putting satanic messages that you could buy,” Rubin continues.

“Satanic messages for the children. Is that a problem?” he asks.