Campbell’s said on Wednesday that vice president Martin Bally, who was embroiled in controversy following a lawsuit and secret recording. In the recording, a voice alleged to be Bally can be heard criticizing Campbell’s products and mocking its consumers.
“We have s— for f—ing poor people. Who buys our s—? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore,” the voice allegedly belonging to Bally can be heard saying. “Bioengineered meat — I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer,” Bally allegedly says, belittling Campbell’s soup ingredients.
Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst who filed the lawsuit, had the recording captured legally under Michigan’s one-party consent law. According to the recording, Campbell also made racist remarks against Indian employees, calling them “idiots” and saying that he disliked working with them.
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“After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally,” James F. Regan, Campbell ‘s director of external communications, told Axios in a statement. “The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused,” Regan said, adding that as of Tuesday, Bally is “no longer employed by the company.”
Campbell’s also said that the description of its food is “patently absurd.”
According to the lawsuit, Garza told his manager, J.D. Aupperle — who is also named as a defendant, about Bally’s behavior in January 2025 and wanted to report the comments to the human resources department. He was not encouraged to report the comments, the lawsuit claims, and was then “abruptly terminated from employment” later that month.
“This situation has been very hard on Robert,” Garza’s attorney, Zachary Runyan, said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday. “He thought Campbell’s would be thankful that he reported Martin’s behavior, but instead he was abruptly fired. Garza is seeking monetary damages from the company.
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Campbell’s remarks caught the eye of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who said he would investigate the company because of the state’s ban on lab-grown meat.
Campbell’s Company, founded in 1869 in Camden, New Jersey, is one of America’s oldest and most iconic food companies. It became famous for inventing condensed soup in the late 1890s, a process developed by Dr. John T. Dorrance that made soup more affordable and shelf-stable.
Today, Campbell’s operates primarily through its Meals & Beverages and Snacks divisions. In 2024, the company officially rebranded as The Campbell’s Company, dropping “Soup” from its name to reflect its broader portfolio. For fiscal year 2025, the company reported net sales of approximately $10.3 billion.