Ben & Jerry’s has said its chief executive, David Stever, was being removed by its parent company, Unilever, in a growing dispute over the ice cream company’s political activism.

The allegation was part of a legal case filed in a US court by Ben & Jerry’s that says Unilever violated a merger agreement by trying to silence its “social mission”.

It comes a month after the ice cream company accused Unilever of demanding that it stops publicly criticising US President Donald Trump.

The ice cream maker was bought by Unilever in 2000 through a merger agreement that created an independent board tasked with protecting the ice cream brand’s values and mission.

But Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have been at loggerheads for a while. Their relationship soured in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it was halting sales in the West Bank. The dispute escalated over the last year as Ben & Jerry’s advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza.