‘XX-XY Athletics’ founder Jennifer Sey on why major brands are pulling out of diversity brand programs.
The second Trump administration was marked by a backlash diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. at American companies. It’s a welcome change, said Jennifer Sey, CEO of XX-XY Athletics, who calls such programs and recruiting practices “excessive.”
“It’s not so fashionable anymore… [Companies] responding to both Trump and the administration and their pressure and the executive orders, but they’re also responding to the public and where public opinion is, and people are rejecting these DEI programs,” she continued.
Gravity research reported in November that “the term ‘DEI’ dropped 98% in Fortune 100 communications.” The report analyzed more than 1,000 company documents from January 2023 to May 2025.
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Jennifer Sey, CEO of XX-XY Athletics, is calling for “excessive” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at companies in America that were eliminated during President Trump’s second term. (Christian Alminana/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Executive teams like to leave these programs behind. They’re a distraction,” Sey added. “It’s all diversity training that people have to go through. It’s the hiring process that focuses on anything other than just pure merit. It distracts from the business. And ultimately, it’s the values that the executive teams and the CEOs have to have in order to make money for the company… That’s their fiduciary responsibility.”
“If they have employees train all day about diversity, they are not focused on making things happen [a] great product and marketing of that product. So, I guess [companies are] Actually relieved to de-emphasize all this and walk away from it,” she added.
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The start of the second Trump administration marked the end of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at companies in America — a hiring practice this CEO called “outrageous.” (Getty Stock Images / Getty Images)
When he took office again, President Donald Trump signed executive order 14173titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” – which directed the heads of all executive departments and agencies to “combat illegal private sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs and activities.”
According to Gravity research40 companies disclosed DEI changes after Trump’s second inauguration, and The Conference Board America’s largest companies also saw a 68% decline in use of the acronym “DEI” in 2025 compared to 2024 filings.
It was also reported that “33% [of companies] stopped using the term equities altogether,” while “53% of S&P 100 companies” adjusted the way DEI efforts were communicated in 2025 annual reports, compared to 2024.
That didn’t necessarily mean abandoning DEI altogether, according to the report, but rather “limiting or reshaping public disclosures around their diversity initiatives.”
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President Donald Trump points to a meeting. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
As an example, the retired gymnast recalled Bud Light’s marketing failure to use transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a 2023 ad campaign, citing the company’s attempt to use “wokeness as a marketing strategy.”
“It backfired big time,” Sey said.
The company has in recent years created more traditional, humorous ads intended to appeal to men, such as his Super Bowl ad this year with Peyton Manning, Post Malone and Shane Gillis.
Sey added: “If you want to wake up and that’s who you appeal to, that’s fine. Go after it if you think it will satisfy your business goals… If you go after a much more conservative customer and express that through your marketing and that’s half the country – then you can build a successful business on that. But if we’re talking about big brands like Target and Bud Light, I think they have an obligation to get to the highest common denominator and focus on the product and the unifying values… It shouldn’t just fall prey to cultural whims,” she continued.
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“[People] they want optimism, they want unifying, optimistic values reflected in the brands they buy,” the athletic brand builder added.
It’s not complicated for companies, she says, to simply focus on finding the best employees to “deliver the best results.”
