While Jimmy John’s usually uses social media to tout its “freaky fast” delivery time, the company issued a loose, unauthored statement via Facebook on Monday, asserting that “the actions in the video are absolutely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John’s brand or the local franchise ownership.”
— Jimmy John's (@jimmyjohns) July 6, 2020
The video in question, which was recorded in Woodstock, Georgia, over the weekend, shows an employee wrapping a bread dough noose around his neck. The individual, referred to as “Jimmy Gallow,” is then “sentenced to death” in the seconds-long performance originally posted to Snapchat.
In Woodstock, GA at a Jimmy Johns, some white employees made a noose, look at the DETAILS in the damn noose dough that’s used for sandwiches. Crazy. They done this before.... pic.twitter.com/HylIMFvxxF
— X (@napkingcolejr) July 5, 2020
Many netizens called out the employees’ actions as a racist mockery of the historic lynching of Black Americans. Georgia politician Ryan Guillory Sr. was able to confirm via a store representative that the employees in the video, and at least one manager, had been fired.
So... “all hangings matter” is where we are at now?
— Skillet McTavish Esq. III (@announcer_box) July 6, 2020
Disgusting behavior. These racist employees at jimmy johns made a noose with dough I’m waiting to see if they got fired !!!!!!! @jimmyjohns https://t.co/bkDIlVtOwh
— BlackCultureEntertainment🗣 (@4TheCulture____) July 6, 2020
SMDH. I'm so sick of people saying that the orange one is transforming people into racists. NOPE. He's just making them bolder. The fact that they are taping a "play lynching" at work is peak white privilege and we all should boycott until they are fired. #JimmyJohns
— BLACK TZEDEK (@BlackTzedek) July 6, 2020
At the same time, a number of netizens agreed with the Facebook post’s assertion that the individuals who filmed the video are not a reflection of the fast food chain as a whole. Many also claimed that the performance was not racist.
It’s unclear if the statement came from Jimmy John’s founder Jimmy John Liautaud, a trophy hunter who was recently featured in a Business Insider profile which detailed that his wife had donated $100,000 to US President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
I keep this on my desktop to use every time I see Jimmy Johns mentioned. They will never get a dime of my money. pic.twitter.com/T8FG0XDBZ3
— Frank Vehafric (@fvehafric) July 6, 2020
Liautaud was also named as one of more than 200 members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s food and beverage industry advisory team, which is responsible, in part, for the federal government’s economic response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.
