Raising Canes' CEO had a disastrous Reddit AMA in which he dodged questions on Trump, LGBT issues, and Cane's sauce
- Raising Cane's CEO Todd Graves had a disastrous Reddit AMA on Wednesday, after he failed to live up to the "ask me anything" prompt.
- Reddit users turned on Graves after he declined to comment on what he called "touchy issues," such as LGBT rights, President Donald Trump, and abortion.
- Raising Cane's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the AMA.
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Raising Cane's CEO Todd Graves had a disastrous Reddit AMA - an "ask me anything" session - after he declined to answer many of people's biggest questions.
On Wednesday, Graves posted: "My name is Todd Graves, I am the CEO and founder of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers! AMA." Graves founded Raising Cane's, a chicken-finger chain that is quickly expanding, in 1996.
While Reddit's AMAs are popular in large part because people have the chance to ask unexpected and sometimes difficult questions, Graves quickly alienated many Reddit users by avoiding certain topics.
"I prefer not to comment on touchy issues such as this," Graves said in response to a question about his thoughts on LGBT rights. "All I will say, is that how people choose to live their life really isn't my business. I only care about if they're heard of my One Love; which is Raising Canes Chicken Fingers. All are welcome at my restaurants at every location."
Graves also declined to comment on his views on abortion and whether he would vote for President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, saying that "how other people choose to vote really isn't my business." (Graves donated $35,500 to the Democratic National Committee in October, according to FEC documents.)
The CEO also dodged a question about knock-off Raising Cane's sauce.
"Both the Toast and the Cane's Sauce are made using a secret recipe," Graves wrote. "The only people that know it are me, Craig, and the regional managers of Raising Cane's restaurants."
As the AMA continued, backlash built against Graves. By Thursday morning, AMA moderators had locked the post, and the original AMA post had been deleted. Raising Cane's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
"This one is well worth the read. Already being dubbed one of the worst AMAs of all time," Reddit user AdMan-90 commented.
On Thursday morning, the post was shared in the subreddit AMA Disasters. You can read the full AMA here.
