17351: BHM 2026—USA TODAY.

 

USA TODAY offers Special Edition Black History Month 2026, inviting readers to take a 100-Year Journey for only $4.95. At least the publication didn’t declare Black History is USA TODAY History.

17344: BHM 2026—President Donald J. Trump.

USA TODAY reported on an unintended Black History Month promotion from President Donald J. Trump, who continues to angle for a repeat White Man Of The Year honor.

 

‘I didn’t make a mistake’ Trump says of post depicting Obamas as apes

 

“I look at a lot of, thousands, of things,” Trump said of the video. “And I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine.”

 

By Zac Anderson, USA TODAY

 

President Donald Trump declined to apologize for sharing a video depicting former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, telling reporters “I didn’t make a mistake.”

 

Trump told reporters while traveling on Air Force One to Florida on Feb. 6 that he only looked at the beginning of the roughly one-minute long video, which starts off talking about unsubstantiated voter fraud claims regarding the 2020 election, and didn’t see the portion with the Obamas that has been widely condemned as racist.

 

“I just looked at the first part... I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said, indicating he gave it to someone else to post and “somebody slipped and missed a very small part.”

 

“I guess probably nobody reviewed the end of it,” Trump said.

 

Asked about calls from GOP lawmakers for him to apologize, Trump said he didn’t plan to. He later said “of course I do” when asked if he condemned the racist part of the video.

 

The brief portion of the video with the Obamas appears to have been created by artificial intelligence. It depicts the bodies of two apes with the faces of the former president and first lady. Apes are flying around in the background of what appears to be a jungle.

 

The video was among dozens of posts on Trump’s Truth Social account in the late hours of Feb. 5 and early hours of Feb. 6. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the Obama post, saying it was “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.”

 

“Please stop the fake outrage,” Leavitt added.

 

The White House later distanced the president from the video amid growing criticism, including from many top Republicans. A White House official said the video had been shared erroneously by an unnamed member of Trump’s staff. It was removed from Trump’s Truth Social account after being up for about 12 hours.

 

The video drew a strong response from Republican lawmakers, who often are reluctant to criticize the leader of their party.

 

Sen. Tim Scott, a close Trump ally and prominent Black Republican from South Carolina who is leading the Senate’s campaign efforts this year, wrote he was “praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

 

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called the post “blatantly racist and inexcusable.” Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, said a “reasonable person” would deem the video “racist” and called for Trump to apologize. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, called the video “totally unacceptable” and also said an apology is in order.

 

Trump said he is the “least racist president you’ve had in a long time” and that “I’ve been great” for Black voters, pointing to criminal justice reform and other policies.

 

The president earlier this year was accused of racism by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for sharing a controversial deepfake video of the lawmaker wearing a sombrero hat with mariachi music playing.

 

Jeffries again slammed Trump as a racist after the video post depicting the Obamas as apes.

 

“This guy is an unhinged bottom feeder,” Jeffries said in a video posted on social media

 

Contributing: Joey Garrison, Melina Khan 

17144: Chilling Thoughts On ICE Recruitment Campaigns.

 

USA TODAY reported ICE is recruiting agents with extensive advertising campaigns.

 

The marketing maneuvers pose dizzying issues, dilemmas, and dark comedy.

 

For starters, candidates might ideally be required to have bilingual skills, presenting DEIBA+ recruitment opportunities. However, President Donald J. Trump’s administration instituted measures to ban such targeted practices. On the flipside, it’s unlikely minorities would be eager to apply for ICE jobs.

 

Are the campaigns being handled by a White advertising agency? Per the previously mentioned political mandates, it’s safe to say minority advertising agencies are effectively banned from offering services. Then again, Latino advertising agencies have already demonstrated countering responses to ICE operations. But at least such shops won’t experience Prime Redlining.

 

To summarize, the ICE campaigns will probably be produced by an exclusively White advertising agency—ultimately creating an exclusively White ICE force.

 

It all presents more reasons to believe ICE is not cool.

 

ICE is recruiting agents with incentives, massive ad campaigns. Sheriffs aren’t happy.

 

ICE just made it more attractive to become an immigration agent, with a $50k signing bonus. But are they hurting local law enforcement in the process?

 

By Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

 

Get ready for ICE to flood your social media feeds.

 

Dangling bonuses of up to $50,000, federal officials are launching a massive recruitment campaign to hire more than 14,000 immigration agents, attorneys and other workers to help execute President Donald Trump’s border crackdown. The president is newly flush with billions in funding and wants to deport 1 million people annually with the help of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

 

“America needs you,” reads one of the ICE recruiting ads, featuring a finger-pointing Uncle Sam, evoking WWI recruiting posters. “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out.”

 

The federal spending plan funds the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents, making ICE the single-largest law enforcement agency in the country, larger than the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies combined. For comparison, the FBI only has about 13,700 special agents, according to the Department of Justice.

 

Even before the new hires take their posts, the dramatic expansion of public ICE operations has upset communities from coast to coast, and raised questions about the tactics agents have used as they’ve chased suspects across Home Depot parking lots, farm fields and into medical buildings.

 

The aggressive recruitment efforts have also angered local sheriffs worried that deputies in already understaffed offices will be lured away by the big bonuses and higher pay.

 

“It is tone deaf and reflects a total lack of judgment and character on their part,” Jonathan Thompson, the executive director and CEO of the National Sheriff’s Association, said of a recruiting offer emailed to local deputies nationwide. “This is either galactically stupid or purposefully malicious. You’re just robbing Peter to pay Paul. And in this case, you’re robbing the poorest of Peter to pay the richest of Paul.”

 

Massive media blitz, incentives and job offers

 

Bolstered by new staffing, federal officials have promised to further flood Democrat-run cities with deportation officers in response to a lack of cooperation in executing Trump’s get-tough approach that has targeted undocumented immigrations with or without criminal records.

 

The Department of Homeland Security has already begun hiring for the new jobs. Federal officials are planning a massive social media blitz to reach recruits, potentially advertising on YouTube and SnapChat, but also on connected TVs via Hulu and Amazon Prime.

 

In addition to the signing bonuses, ICE is offering up to $60,000 in student loan forgiveness, although applicants don’t need to have college degrees to be considered for some of the jobs.

 

ICE officials on July 31 announced they’ve made 1,000 job offers since Trump signed the funding law. Among those receiving job offers are retired ICE agents who quit during the Biden administration, said acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons in a statement.

 

“They couldn’t do the jobs they signed up to do,” Lyons said. “Now, people are lining up to work with us because they know our officers and agents are allowed to enforce immigration law fairly and across the board, and that’s a cause people really believe in.”

 

Applicants ‘should expect a certain level of risk’

 

White House officials say there’s been an 830% increase in assaults against agents through July 14th, compared with the same period last year, and the recruiting materials say applicants “should expect a certain level of risk,” but that they will be trained to take “every precaution” in remaining safe.

 

How quickly ICE can bring aboard the new employees remains uncertain. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has long struggled to hire Border Patrol agents, who typically take more than 300 days to bring aboard, according to a 2024 GAO study.

 

Joe Gamaldi, the national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police union, said he suspects ICE will face the same recruiting challenges as local departments. He said years of demonizing law enforcement by some politicians, activists and media has created a “toxic cocktail” that will make hiring challenging.

 

“Truth be told, all police agencies are competing for a small pool of people who are still willing to serve and literally die for their communities,” he said. “Bonuses and better pay will help, but ultimately police officers, and those interested in police work, want to serve for an agency and communities that appreciate them and don’t treat them like scum.”

 

Local sheriffs furious about ICE recruitment efforts

 

The aggressive hiring efforts have frustrated local law enforcement leaders who worry their officers will flock to better-paying federal jobs. Without telling local sheriffs in advance, ICE officials directly emailed recruitment offers to hundreds of deputies across the country.

 

Thompson, of the National Sheriff’s Association, said sheriffs feel betrayed by the move. Thompson said sheriffs agreed to send deputies to special immigration enforcement training designed for local police, only to then have ICE try to simply poach them away.

 

“It’s become a wildfire of discontent, and not how partners treat partners,” he said. “This is an embarrassment to this president, and it’s sad.”

 

Thompson said some sheriff’s offices currently have vacancies of 40% and predicted the ICE hiring spree could further winnow the ranks of local law enforcement.

 

Other policing experts have raised concerns about the risks of hiring so quickly.

 

National-security expert and commentator Garrett Graf, who investigated Border Patrol hiring surges after 9/11, said in a Substack post that ICE risks a surge of applications from Americans “specifically attracted by the rough-em-up, masked secret police tactics, no-holds-barred lawlessness that ICE has pursued since January.”

 

Graff added: “If you’re excited to dress up like you’re taking Fallujah for a raid of hard-working roofers in the Home Depot parking lot, working for ICE or CBP shouldn’t be for you.”

17100: How President Trump Celebrates Juneteenth.

 

USA TODAY reported President Donald J. Trump acknowledged Juneteenth by griping there are “too many non-working holidays in America. … It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed.”

 

Looks like somebody’s still smarting over the low turnout for his birthday parade—which, incidentally, cost an estimated $40 million.

 

Donald Trump appears to knock Juneteenth celebrations

 

By Marina Pitofsky

 

President Donald Trump appeared to criticize Juneteenth celebrations in a post on social media, saying there are “too many non-working holidays in America.”

 

“It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,” Trump said on June 19. “The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year.”

 

The president did not specifically name the holiday in his post.

 

Juneteenth commemorates the events of June 19, 1865, when the last Black slaves of the Confederacy were ordered free following the arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas.

 

It has long been celebrated by Black Americans, but it rose to national prominence in 2020 amid protests against racial inequities, sparked in part by the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. It was officially recognized a federal holiday by then-President Joe Biden in 2021.

 

It wasn’t immediately clear what costs Trump was referring to in his post. Private companies are not forced to close on federal holidays, and many don’t.

 

Most national banks, federal offices and the United States Postal Service were closed in honor of Juneteenth. However, major retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Target and Starbucks were open on the holiday.

 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by reporters earlier in the day whether Trump was expected to commemorate Juneteenth.

 

“I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today,” she responded. “I know this is a federal holiday.”

 

Trump has previously honored Juneteenth, including in his first term as president. But Trump created controversy in 2020 after scheduling his first rally since COVID-19 lockdowns in Tulsa, Oklahoma — the site of one of the worst massacres of Black Americans in the country's history — on Juneteenth.

 

He later changed the date of the event.

 

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Saman Shafiq

16946: BHM 2025—USA TODAY.

 

USA TODAY is offering a Black History Month Special Edition. Ironically, interest for BHM has especially diminished in the USA today.

16854: Save Money. Live Whiter. Walmart.

USA TODAY reported Walmart joined other major brands in discounting DEIBA+ dedication.

 

Was the mega-retailer’s commitment to justice and equality ever more than corporate propaganda? Walmart appeared authentic in its advocacy—albeit by virtue of throwing lots of money at heat shields.

 

Hell, Walmart delivered performative PR in 2012 that inspired the term crumbs.

 

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, rolls back DEI under pressure

 

Jessica Guynn | USA TODAY

 

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is the latest company to make changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under pressure from a conservative activist.

 

The retail giant said it would not renew a racial equity center it created following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and it would no longer participate in an annual benchmark index from LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.

 

Robby Starbuck said he warned Walmart last week he was working on a report about “wokeness.” According to Starbuck, the company then engaged in “productive conversations” to make changes. 

 

“Removing wokeness from Walmart has both downstream effects on suppliers and it sets the tone for corporate America,” Starbuck told USA TODAY. “Changing the normal operating policy at a nearly $1 trillion company is a gargantuan feat that many have tried to achieve but no one until now has actually been able to get done.”  

 

Walmart also committed to monitoring third-party items in the Walmart marketplace for “inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children;” reviewing all Pride funding; and no longer using the term LatinX in official communications, Starbuck said.

 

Walmart said many of the DEI changes were in the works for a few years and were not a result of the conversation with Starbuck. For example, Walmart said it already switched its terminology from DEI to belonging and made changes to its supplier diversity program.

 

“We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone,” the company said in an emailed statement.

 

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 forced a historic reckoning with race in America, businesses pledged to make their workforces and their leadership better reflect the communities they serve.

 

Employees of color are underrepresented at every level of power in corporate America, according to USA TODAY data investigations. One analysis in 2023 found that white men account for 7 in 10 executive officers in the nation’s largest companies. About 1 in 7 of these companies had executive teams made up only of white men.

 

But four years after those 2020 promises, the political landscape has shifted. Though corporate diversity efforts are broadly supported by the American public – especially younger Americans – they face growing scrutiny in the courts and in statehouses across the country as right-wing foundations, think tanks and political operatives push “race-neutral” policies. 

 

The Supreme Court decision in 2023 to ban the consideration of race in higher education only emboldened attacks on workplace programs. 

 

Public sentiment has also shifted. Consumer boycotts that slashed sales forced some brands like Bud Light and Target to retreat from marketing campaigns to the LGBTQ+ community. Major brands like Ford and Lowe’s have abandoned initiatives and overhauled teams after pressure from Starbuck.

 

In conservative circles, the 2024 election is being viewed as a referendum on DEI. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on corporations that do business with the federal government.

 

More than 60% of corporate executives surveyed by business research group The Conference Board view today’s political climate for corporate DEI as very or extremely challenging, and most expected continued or escalating pushback.

 

Even so, fewer than 10% of the organizations planned to scale back their DEI commitments over the next three years. 

 

Proponents say DEI programs are good for business, helping companies hire and retain diverse talent and create environments that boost innovation. 

 

But business leaders are reluctant to talk about their initiatives. Major corporations including Walmart recently declined to make executives available to USA TODAY to discuss their DEI programs.

16819: Systemic Racism Playing At Iconic Game Shows?

 

USA TODAY reported on charges of racial discrimination targeting executives at “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” game shows. Expect a “Black Jeopardy!” skit on SNL soon.

 

‘Jeopardy’, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ under fire: Game shows hit with race discrimination claims

 

Two former employees recount a toxic work environment that included racially insensitive jokes, unequal pay and more.

 

Jessica Guynn, Felecia Wellington Radel | USA TODAY

 

Executives at “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” discriminated against people of color then fired them for raising concerns about a toxic work environment where staffers made disparaging remarks about Black contestants, two former employees allege in civil rights complaints obtained by USA TODAY. 

 

The two former Sony Pictures Entertainment workers said they were consistently given fewer opportunities than their white colleagues and were routinely subjected to racially insensitive behavior, including crew members mocking a Black contestant’s natural hairstyle.

 

Shelley Ballance Ellis, 60, said she was the highest-ranking Black production executive on the popular game shows. During her 26-year tenure, she said she was loaded down with extra responsibilities but passed over for promotions. 

 

Monique Diaz, 48, who is Latina and worked on the shows for 23 years, said she was paid substantially less than a newly hired white colleague. 

 

In April, Ballance Ellis and Diaz were laid off in what the company said was a corporate reorganization. 

 

“The truth is that I and others were targeted by Sony because we opposed discrimination,” Ballance Ellis alleged in her complaint.

 

Sony has not responded to multiple requests for comment from USA TODAY.

 

‘Take an open, honest look’

 

Attorneys Peter Romer-Friedman and Hillary Benham-Baker, who represent Ballance Ellis and Diaz, said Sony violated California civil rights laws. 

 

Complaints filed with the California Civil Rights Department are investigated by the agency, which can sue the company, dismiss the charges or grant workers the right to pursue their own lawsuit.

 

“What happened to Shelley and her colleagues behind the closed doors of production should not happen and it was unlawful under our civil rights laws,” Benham-Baker told USA TODAY. 

 

The allegations against “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” come amid rising tensions over persistent opportunity gaps for talent from diverse backgrounds in the entertainment industry.

 

When George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in May 2020, major studios and networks joined in calls for equality, pledging solidarity and millions of dollars. But those commitments have since faded.

 

In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, Ballance Ellis said marginalized people are often overlooked and undervalued in mainstream Hollywood, where mostly white power brokers decide who gets the job or promotion or what stories are told on screen.

 

Ballance Ellis’ family has deep roots in the entertainment business – her grandfather was an actor and her father a studio executive and her grandparents owned the historic Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles – so she said she felt a responsibility to “use her voice for good” in an industry where few people of color without connections dare speak out.

 

“I hope that this will be an opportunity for any entertainment executive to look at themselves and really, take an open, honest look,” she told USA TODAY.

 

Complaint alleges racially insensitive jokes, halted career ambitions

 

“Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” are mainstays of American television and major financial contributors to the Sony entertainment ecosystem. 

 

Ballance Ellis led the clearance and licensing department, which obtains legal rights to video clips, artwork, music and other intellectual property featured on the shows, where she said she had a “front-row seat” to racial bias and insensitivity.

 

In her complaint, Ballance Ellis says the company tolerated racially insensitive jokes about Black contestants. 

 

During a “Wheel of Fortune” production meeting in 2020, a Black employee said he overheard colleagues saying a Black woman’s locs hairstyle reminded them of the movie “The Elephant Man,” about a man grotesquely disfigured by a congenital disorder who makes his living as a sideshow attraction in Victorian England.

 

When the show’s director responded that he and the crew members were just joking, Ballance Ellis said in her complaint that she commented: “Which part is funny?” 

 

Ballance Ellis said she also raised concerns about biased “Jeopardy!” clues and advocated for “more inclusive, nuanced clues about people from diverse backgrounds.”

 

For example, in 1999 in the "Black History" category, the clue was: "The black population of these U.S. areas, the destination of ‘white flight,’ doubled in the ‘70s and ‘80s.” The answer was “the suburbs.”

 

“I mean to think that people are moving out of a neighborhood because Black people move in. That is not Black history of anything,” she said. “After that happened, people I knew were offended and in my opinion, rightfully so. I was embarrassed to work somewhere where that happened.”

 

Other actions had a traumatic effect on employees, according to Ballance Ellis. 

In 2017, “Wheel of Fortune” issued an apology after an episode for the show’s “Southern Charm Week” showed hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White in front of a plantation and two slave reenactors in antebellum dress. 

 

But last year, a Black employee was told to create a shot list – a document detailing each shot in a particular scene – of plantation footage the producers were considering for Sajak’s retirement sendoff, according to Ballance Ellis. Objections from staff members were ignored, she said.

 

Ballance Ellis said her own experiences with discrimination at “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” were painful episodes in a job she otherwise loved. 

 

Even when she was assigned additional responsibilities when three producers left the company, she said she was not considered for promotions.

 

In 2021, after a lengthy search, executive producer Mike Richards was named permanent host, replacing Alex Trebek who died in 2020. But Richards was forced to step down over offensive remarks he made on an earlier podcast and his involvement in past employment discrimination lawsuits while executive producing “The Price Is Right.” 

 

Amid the public uproar, Ballance Ellis said Sony’s senior leadership mandated diversity and inclusion training. 

 

During a gender-based training session in 2023, Ballance Ellis spoke up about her stunted career ambitions.

 

“I explained that I believe I had faced a glass ceiling at Sony as a Black woman, pushing back on my colleagues’ claim that having white women in leadership meant there was no glass ceiling for people of color or Black women like me,” she said in her complaint.

 

Ballance Ellis said a supervising producer responded: “Shelley thinks she faced a glass ceiling, but that isn’t accurate. The reason that we didn’t promote Shelley is that Shelley is incredibly valuable in the position that she is in.”

 

Earlier this year, Ballance Ellis said she was forced out of the company and her duties were handed to a younger white woman. 

 

“Sony simultaneously ‘reorganized’ the positions from my team of diverse employees (who are over 40 years old) and replaced them with mostly younger white employees,” she said in her complaint.

 

That included Diaz, who joined the clearance and licensing department in 2011. 

 

Diaz told USA TODAY she enjoyed working with her supervisor, Ballance Ellis, and her team, but she grew increasingly troubled by how nonwhite contestants were treated versus white contestants, and how employees’ concerns about racial bias were disregarded. 

 

In 2020, Diaz said she attended a meeting where a production supervisor mocked Black comedian Leslie Jones' request to bring her own hairstylist for her appearance as a celebrity contestant on “Wheel of Fortune.” For years, Black actors have complained they have to either do their own hair or sit through a stylist who does not know how to. 

 

“The bad part is I learned early on that there were different roles for different people and it was disheartening,” Diaz said. 

 

Another employee approached Diaz in 2023 to share that a supervising producer made about Black people’s skin “not aging as rapidly as white people’s skin.”

 

“I felt the environment was very discriminatory,” she said. 

 

Diaz said she learned that firsthand when she found out that she was earning about $50,000 a year less than a new white colleague doing the same work. She said she filed a complaint with human resources but got no response.

 

When Ballance Ellis advocated for an equity pay adjustment, Ballance Ellis said she was asked: “Does she know” she is being paid less? Ballance Ellis said she responded: “We know.” 

 

The supervising producer refused to take action, so Ballance Ellis said she turned to Sony’s chief diversity officer. 

 

Diaz said she got a pay bump but still earned $15,000 less per year than her colleague.

 

“We’re talking about iconic American shows that are supposed to be inclusive and reflect the best of America,” Romer-Friedman said. “Until people like Shelley and Monique can remain and thrive at ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ those shows aren’t going to represent the best of America.”

16373: Walgreens—Trusted Since 1901—Returns To Exclusivity Of 1901…?

 

USA TODAY reported on the departure of Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, which leaves the S&P 500 without a single Black woman holding a CEO title. This reflects the extraordinary underrepresentation of Black women in Adland too. Although it doesn’t prevent Walgreens from producing performative propaganda like the diversity recruitment advertisement depicted below.

 

No Black women CEOs left in S&P 500 after Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer resigns

 

By Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY

 

And then there were none.

 

Walgreens Boots Alliance said Friday that its CEO, Rosalind Brewer, had stepped down.

 

Brewer, 61, was the only Black female CEO currently running an S&P 500 company.

 

Her departure from the drugstore chain – and the absence she leaves – underscores the slow progress for diversity at the top of the nation’s largest companies.

 

Before Brewer, a former Starbucks and Sam’s Club executive, joined Walgreens, the last Black woman to command an S&P 500 company was Ursula Burns, who left Xerox in 2016.

 

“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lead Walgreens Boots Alliance and to work alongside such talented and dedicated colleagues,” Brewer wrote in a note on LinkedIn.

 

Though corporate leadership has always been an exclusive club, it has gotten even more exclusive in the past two generations.

 

White men dominate the ranks of named executive officers, those corporate leaders who are listed on federal regulatory forms and include CEOs, chief financial officers and others who serve in a handful of top-paid roles.

 

Of the 533 named executive officers across these corporations, white men represent 7 in 10, according to a USA TODAY analysis. And of those companies, about 1 in 7 had executive teams that were made up of only white men in 2022.

 

Meanwhile, women – just 90 of them – make up 17% of named executive officers. Only 17 women of color were named executive officers in 2022, according to the analysis. Black women account for just 1% of top leaders. They are even more sparsely represented at the CEO level.

 

Brewer took the top job in March 2021 and was charged with transforming the company. Walgreens stock has lost half its value since then. The company has faced hurdles as it pivots from its pharmacy and retail business to focus on health care services.

 

Brewer will be replaced by board member Ginger Graham, who has been tapped as interim CEO.