McDonald’s Settles $10B Discrimination Lawsuit, Bryon Allen Rides Off Into the Sunset with Cash…

You know that feeling when you find out your favorite McDonalds ice cream machine works and you get to enjoy that McFlurry you’ve been craving? Yeah, neither does McDonalds… and yet, this might be the closest win they can get. Translation: McDonalds just dodged a $10 billion discrimination lawsuit from media mogul Byron Allen. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Byron Allen, who owns Entertainment Studios and The Weather Group, sued McDonald’s for allegedly treating Black-owned media companies like the kid who gets picked last in gym class. Allen said McDonald’s stashed their ad dollars in a “Black media ghetto,” while the Big Mac budget was reserved for the folks slinging reruns of Friends and Law & Order: SVU. 

Meaning, Bryon called B.S. on McDonalds’ 2021 “we’ll spend 5% of our ad budget with Black-owned media by 2024” promise, claiming McDonalds kept ignoring his proposals, even after he peacocked his best campaigns. And for that, he wanted $10 billion… enough to buy and finally fix every ice cream machine McDonald’s has ever owned. 

(Source: Yahoo Finance) 

Fast forward to the last few months, and a federal judge found there was enough sus behavior to maybe, just maybe, let this go to trial. Allowing Allen to take McDonalds behind the shed while explaining to a jury why “separate-but-equal” is somewhat of a death sentence in the year of our Lord in 2025… especially for corporate juggernauts like Micky D’s. Spoiler: Nobody wants to be the next viral “racism” trend on TikTok. 

Which is why, even after the backlash, the allegations, and the “Screw you’s”, there will be no trial. Instead, they settled, with the terms secret of course. All we know: McDonald’s will keep buying ad spots from ESN at “market value,” which means “definitely more than they were paying before”. In result, ESN drops the lawsuit and McDonald’s gets to issue a statement about “unwavering commitment to inclusion” without ever admitting they might’ve, you know, not included people. 

(Source: Giphy) 

For investors, this is what you call a BFD. Not necessarily because you believe in the power of unity, but because no jury in LA was ever going to look kindly on Ronald McDonald facing off against the guy who owns The Weather Channel. A $10 billion headline would have sent shares on a crash diet faster than an Ebola only cleanse. Even still though, we can’t help but assume the financial impact is real AF, regardless if the details are hush-hush. Translation: Allen just proved that suiding the world’s largest burger slinger is still a better business model than launching another streaming service.

In the end, peace has been restored… apparently with Bryon Allen getting his ad dollars. On the other hand, McDonalds gets to pretend their three-legged stool isn’t missing a leg, and investors are just happy shares are still up 2% YTD. Until next time, friends…

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in McDonalds as mentioned in the article.