McDonald's CEO Apologizes For Texts About Chicago Childrens' Deaths

McDonald’s Corp. MCD CEO Chris Kempczinski has apologized for the text messages exchanged with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the parents of two children who were killed in Chicago-area shootings.

In April, the incident took place, and Kempczinski  wrote to Lightfoot, saying, “Both the parents failed those kids, which I know is something you can’t say. Even harder to fix.”

Later the texts were made public by a coalition of community groups, and it caused a major backlash, prompting protests at the McDonald’s headquarters.

Apologizing for the text message, Kempczinski sent a message on Tuesday to U.S. McDonald's employees.

“Not taking the time to think about this from their viewpoint was wrong and lacked the empathy and compassion I feel for these families. This is a lesson that I will carry with me,” Kempczinski said in Tuesday’s message.

In another message on Saturday, Kempczinski recorded a video message to McDonald’s U.S. system, and he again apologized.

“I’m sorry I let you down. And I let myself down,” he said.

Adam Toledo, 13, was killed by Chicago police earlier this year. In April, seven-year-old Jaslyn Adams was shot and killed, and her father was wounded in a McDonald’s drive-thru near Chicago’s Loop business district.

Photo: Unsplash.