Overview
- Robby Starbuck relaunched his boycott on Wednesday, June 3, accusing Harley‑Davidson of reversing its 2024 pledge to scale back diversity, equity and inclusion policies by hiring Artie Starrs and Marcus Fischer in 2025.
- Starbuck says Artie Starrs promoted Pride events at Topgolf and supported antiracism materials while at Pizza Hut, which he cites as evidence the CEO will bring DEI priorities back to Harley‑Davidson.
- Starbuck targets Chief Brand Officer Marcus Fischer for past agency work that promoted transgender representation, pronoun use and targeted DEI programs, and he says those hires show a corporate shift in tone.
- Harley‑Davidson had not issued a new public rebuttal in the cited coverage, and right‑leaning influencers have amplified Starbuck’s claims while urging riders to buy competitors such as Indian Motorcycle.
- The dispute builds on Starbuck’s 2024 campaign that prompted Harley to say it had dismantled some DEI structures, and it raises the prospect of reputational or market effects that reporters say are asserted but not independently verified.