Benzinga | Nov 9, 2021 05:34PM EST

McDonald's CEO Apologizes For Texts About Chicago Childrens' Deaths

McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) CEO Chris Kempczinski has apologized for the text messages exchanged with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the parents of two children who were killed in Chicago-area shootings.

In April, the incident took place, and Kempczinski wrote to Lightfoot, saying, "Both the parents failed those kids, which I know is something you can't say. Even harder to fix."

Later the texts were made public by a coalition of community groups, and it caused a major backlash, prompting protests at the McDonald's headquarters.

Apologizing for the text message, Kempczinski sent a message on Tuesday to U.S. McDonald's employees.

"Not taking the time to think about this from their viewpoint was wrong and lacked the empathy and compassion I feel for these families. This is a lesson that I will carry with me," Kempczinski said in Tuesday's message.

In another message on Saturday, Kempczinski recorded a video message to McDonald's U.S. system, and he again apologized.

"I'm sorry I let you down. And I let myself down," he said.

Adam Toledo, 13, was killed by Chicago police earlier this year. In April, seven-year-old Jaslyn Adams was shot and killed, and her father was wounded in a McDonald's drive-thru near Chicago's Loop business district.

Photo: Unsplash.