McDonald's Corp. was slapped with a $10 billion lawsuit by two companies owned by media entrepreneur Byron Allen, who alleged the fast-food chain discriminated against black-owned media, Bloomberg reported Friday.
The comedian-turned-media mogul Allen claims in a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that racial stereotyping is a factor in McDonald's refusal to contract with his Weather Group and AMG Entertainment Studios in violation of federal and state law.
According to the complaint, Blacks comprise around 40% of McDonald's customers, but the company devoted less than $5 million of its $1.6 billion U.S. budget for advertisements in 2019 to Black-owned media.
Allen said the structure creates "separate and unequal tracks for Black-owned media companies to earn advertising revenue."
He noted the TV networks he owns have general market appeal and do not specifically target African American audiences.
But, the lawsuit alleges that McDonald's has refused to advertise on The Weather Channel since Allen bought the network in 2018.
"McDonald's, like much of corporate America these days, publicly touts its commitment to diversity and inclusion, but this is nothing more than empty rhetoric," Fox News quoted a part of the complaint as saying.
Last month, Allen and other Black media owners joined forces to put pressure on auto manufacturer General Motor for the same reason. He has been very vocal about the issue for more than a year with some success.
Allen has previously sued cable company Comcast, alleging that race was at play in its refusal to air channels from his Entertainment Studios Network.
Most recently, ad companies Interpublic and GroupM agreed to invest in Black-owned media, Deadline reported.
McDonald's, in a statement said "Once we receive the complaint, we will review and respond accordingly," New York Post reported.
