NBC’s Today scored the first network interview with third-generation Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy for Wednesday’s show and, while co-host Craig Melvin sang the company’s praises and showcased for viewers its humble beginnings, he spent just over 90 seconds harassing him over his family’s Christian roots that he described as being against “equal rights,” which led to far-left bans, protesters, and threats to the company in 2012.
The exchange came partway through the six-minute-plus block (which concluded with banter between Melvin and the other co-hosts about their favorite Chick-fil-A sauces). Melvin, a fellow Believer in Christ, led into this by holding up the family-owned company’s Christian values as the “guiding force for how they operate.”
Melvin asked specifically about the fact that they’re still closed on Sundays. Cathy said it was because his “grandfather, his brother, Ben, when they started...it was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday, and so, they had to do that. They wanted to have a chance to take a break, go to church, and for others to take a rest.”
“It’s a company that was sort of built — built on God, if you will, and that still seems to be very much a part of the DNA of Chick-fil-A,” Melvin replied.
Cathy continued, saying faith in Him “is our anchor, in the sense of what our corporate purpose states, that we’re in business to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us, to have a positive influence on all that come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”
WATCH: NBC’s ‘Today’ spent over 90 seconds of its six-minute-plus profile of third-generation Chick-fil-A Andrew Cathy harassing him over his family’s Christian roots supporting traditional marriage, which led to the bans, protesters, and threats to the company in 2012 pic.twitter.com/3xRxoAlT8x
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 14, 2026
The interview took a sudden turn when Melvin said Chick-fil-A’s “purpose came under fire in 2012, when Andrew’s father, Dan, publicly stated the company was opposed to gay marriage,” adding “[p]ublic documents revealed Chick-fil-A had donated millions to conservative Christian organizations opposed to LGBTQ rights.”
Following sounds of protesters, Melvin huffed, “[t]he comments and financial disclosures unleashed a culture war, with protests, boycotts, and political pushback on both sides,” and while “Dan Cathy never changed his stance on gay marriage, but he did express regret for involving the company in the debate.”
The NBC host then said to Andrew Cathy: “They are folks who were — they were protesting, they were boycotting Chick-fil-A. They said, at Chick-fil-A, they don’t — they don’t stand with the LGBTQ+ community. What would you say to those folks?”
Cathy’s response embodied the kind of character Christians are called to in Matthew 25, Luke 14, and Romans 12 to name a few:
Well, for anybody that hasn’t tried us, we would love for you to come try us and have our great-tasting food and the hospitality that we’re known for. I think that everybody that’s willing to walk in the door, they’re welcome to come eat with us. We’d love to give them a great-tasting sandwich and give them great hospitality.
Melvin kept pressing, “You don’t want to talk about that chapter in — in Chick-fil-A’s history. You don’t.”
Cathy maintained the company is “focusing on serving everybody that comes and eats with us,” but Melvin wouldn’t let it go: “The company’s official position on equal rights is?”
The Chick-fil-A CEO didn’t budge: “We’re focused on hospitality, serving great-tasting food, and great service.”
Rewinding to earlier, the three teases didn’t indicate this six-minute-plus block would be contentious. Melvin told viewers they discussed the “chain’s past, its growth, and the fast-food price wars,” along with its “portion sizes.”
Melvin and Cathy initially discussed the company’s early history and its famous chicken sandwich (click “expand”):
MELVIN: Chick-fil-A has grown from a regional favorite to the third-largest fast-food chain in this country. And what sets it apart is that it remains privately owned by the family that started it, 48-year-old Andrew Cathy, now a third-generation chief executive, literally raised to take Chick-fil-A into the future. One chain rules the roost in the growing fast food chicken wars. Chick-fil-A is the third largest chain in America, just behind McDonald’s and Starbucks. Their restaurants boast nearly $24 billion in sales every year, and consistently strong customer satisfaction scores, thanks in part to a fanatical following.
(....)
CATHY: The big thing is just focus on one customer at a time, and that was one of the things my grandfather did.
MELVIN: It all started in Georgia, when Andrew Cathy’s grandfather, Truett Cathy, and his brother opened a diner in 1946.
CATHY: My grandfather grew up in extreme poverty. He lived in the first government housing in the state of Georgia, and after the war, he decided to start a business with his brother, Ben.
MELVIN: A deal to buy chicken breasts too large for Delta Airlines’s in-flight menu, it led Truett to develop the sandwich that would eventually become the first signature item of the first Chick-fil-A in 1967. [TO CATHY] That recipe — it’s still the same recipe?
CATHY: It’s the same recipe since 1967.
MELVIN [TO CATHY]: What’s in it? What’s the recipe?
CATHY: It’s a lot of good things. [MELVIN LAUGHS] I can’t tell you the details.
MELVIN: Even amid a recent global expansion, the company has remained a privately-held, family-owned business. Andrew Kathy became CEO in 2021, following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps.
Following the repugnant and uncalled-for ambush, Melvin shared the company’s charitable work since 2019 has “focus[ed]...on education, homelessness, and hunger. That new mission? Evident in their Shared Tables program,” which Cathy said has resulted in “enough food” for “over 200 million [to] those in need.”
This served as the segue to the current economy (click “expand”):
MELVIN: Philanthropic work remains front and center, even as Chick-fil-A navigates the challenges of the future. [TO CATHY] What would you say to consumers right now, especially who are price-conscious?
CATHY: We’re very, very cautious about pricing and look at it, and know that, even though our costs are going up, we’ve got to be careful knowing that consumers are making that trade-off. What we want more than anything, if customers do choose to eat with us, they want to feel like, man, I got a great value for what I paid for this experience.
MELVIN [TO CATHY]: Shrinkflation. Are you guys — have you participated in — in smaller — smaller portions yet?
CATHY: We’re not going to do that. We’re not going to shrink product, and those sort of things.
MELVIN [TO CATHY]: Why not?
CATHY: These are the portions and experiences that people are used to. We’ll continue to provide that great — great product.
The taped portion concluded with Melvin wondering if they’re “tak[ing] credit for chicken sandwiches becoming omnipresent at fast food restaurants,” and Cathy saying he’s “love[d]” it because they “love competition” that “makes us better.”
Back live, Melvin gushed over the company to Saturday co-host Laura Jarrett and 3rd Hour co-host Dylan Dreyer, calling it “one of my favorite brands” (click “expand”):
MELVIN: It was — it was a fascinating conversation.
JARRETT: Quite revealing.
MELVIN: It’s been one of my favorite brands for a long time, since high school. The competition to get one of those franchises? Very — it’s very competitive.
JARRETT: Mmm.
MELVIN: Cathy says for the 150 locations they open every year, they get 150,000 applications.
DYLAN DREYER: Wow.
MELVIN: Said he’s not sure if any of his four children will actually take over the company someday, but he did tell me that the family have no plans to take the company public.
JARRETT: Keep it in the family.
MELVIN: Still privately-held.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from October 14, click here.
