Harley-Davidson Backsliding On Wokeness Despite Previous Policy Reversal

Harley-Davidson hired a CEO and a Chief Brand Officer that have pushed “woke” initiatives in the past despite the motorcycle company’s vow to backtrack away from such policies.

The companies that Artie Starrs, now Harley-Davidson’s CEO, and Marcus Fischer, now Harley-Davidson’s chief brand officer, previously helped lead strongly promoted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies during their respective tenures, according to conservative activist Robby Starbuck.

Harley-Davidson hired both Starrs and Fischer in 2025, a year after the company said it would change such policies following significant backlash. In 2025, former CEO of Harley-Davidson, Jochen Zeitz, retired after he was accused of pushing a leftist political agenda and overseeing over a decline in sales. Starbuck helped spark the policy reversal in 2024 through posts on X that alleged Harley-Davidson’s pro-DEI actions.

The activist, known for his work in getting large corporations to drop DEI policies, posted on X about the motorcycle company on Wednesday.

Starbuck’s social media activism has led to major companies – including John Deere, Black and Decker, Walmart, Target, and Pepsi – reconsidering their left-wing policies.

Starrs formerly acted as CEO for Pizza Hut and Topgolf, according to a statement released by Harley-Davidson.

“Their new CEO hire literally had DEI and woke policy deeply embedded in both of his most recent stops as CEO of Topgolf and Pizza Hut,” Starbuck said about Starrs in his X post.

While Starrs was CEO, Topgolf supported and released Pride events for the LGBTQ community, Starbuck revealed in the X post. The entertainment company’s support for pride included a statement claiming, “We envision a world at Topgolf where our family celebrates our LGBTQIA+ community.” It also supported a PGA of America LGBTQIA+ golf tournament to raise money for San Fransisco Pride.

During Starrs’ tenure at the helm of Pizza Hut, the company launched a collection of “antiracism resources for educators.” Part of the program involved a queer man reading to children.

“In its 35th year advocating for childhood literacy, Pizza Hut and literacy partner First Book are partnering with Karamo, Culture Expert on Netflix’s Queer Eye and author of the new children’s book ‘I Am Perfectly Designed,’ to introduce a new holiday fundraiser aimed at increasing access to culturally relevant children’s books in communities across the country,” according to a Pizza Hut press release in 2019.

Fischer, Harley-Davidson’s Chief Brand Officer, formerly served as the CEO of Carmichael Lynch, an advertising agency. During this time, the company had a program specifically for non-white people, a drag show in-office which raised over $12,000 and an all-agency pronoun presentation, Starbuck showed in a video attached to his X post.