Walmart is the latest major company to roll back DEI policies amid conservative backlash

Walmart confirmed to several businesses, including Bloomberg and that Associated Pressthat it is making broad changes – including no longer prioritizing suppliers based on race and gender, ending racial equality training for employees and withdrawing from the LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

The supposed changes were first announced on X by prominent anti-DEI Conservative pundit Robby Starbuck, who said the move was in response to threats he was making a “woke story” at the company ahead of the key shopping season.

Starbuck claimed he had “productive conversations” with executives at Walmart, who promised to implement these changes.

The company confirmed to Bloomberg that it had held talks with Starbuck, but claimed that it was already reviewing its DEI efforts before that.

Aside from changes to its DEI policies, Walmart has also agreed to monitor its online marketplace for ads from third-party sellers that Starbuck describes as “sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children” and remove them if necessary .

The company also told the AP that it plans to review grants for Pride events to ensure it does not “financially support sexualized content that may be inappropriate for children.”