Target protest leader Jamal Bryant on Thursday strongly refuted online accusations that the retail giant paid him to end the national economic protest he helped spearhead more than a year ago.
“Absolutely not a dime for even our meetings,” Bryant told Capital B Atlanta during a Thursday phone interview. “I bought my own plane ticket, bought my own hotel. I can say with clarity, Target has never even bought me lunch.”
The Stonecrest megachurch pastor was responding to backlash he received on social media after publicly declaring an end to the “Target Fast” protest he officially launched on March 5, 2025.
He’s been accused of deliberately conflating the Target Fast with the National Target Boycott started a month prior by Minnesota-based activists Monique Cullars-Doty, Nekima Levy Armstrong and Jaylani Hussein of CAIR.
Hundreds of comments on Bryant’s Instagram page called into question his authority to end the economic movement and shoppers’ commitment to continuing to boycott the retailer.
“You don’t get to tell Black women that the boycott is over,” IG user @homeloanswithMonca wrote on Bryant’s Instagram page on Wednesday. “You don’t speak for us!! Period!”
“Target donated some money now u want to lift the boycott?” @notur_avglocal1 added. “All this means is ‘We’ can be bought for the right price.”
“We’re still NOT going!!!” toresworld posted.
“nothing in their policies have changed. why would our minds??? Anniekin wrote.
During a press conference Wednesday with former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner and activist Tamika D. Mallory, Bryant clarified that his intention was to declare victory for the Target Fast while recounting its successes. He acknowledged the Target Fast and the Target boycott have been referred to interchangeably by the media and the public.
“This is an amalgamation of several different movements that are taking place, but the Target Fast entity, which is the faith-based initiative, is claiming victory,” he said.
Bryant noted to Capital B Atlanta that never advised anyone to resume shopping at Target on Wednesday.
“What I did yesterday was report what it is that we’ve asked for,” he said. “I’ve not made to the community any updates as to what has taken place. So as a consequence, I felt it my responsibility to share where it is that we are and my satisfaction or dissatisfaction with it. But I never encouraged people to go back in Target or to start shopping there.”
Target has acknowledged that the boycott has hurt sales. Investors have been frustrated with the company’s struggles, which its leaders have linked to the pro-DEI boycott.
Bryant said he met with Target CEO Brian Fiddelke during the last week in February and that he had “a completely different temperament” than the previous CEO, who Bryant met with last year.
“[Fiddelke] was open to the conversation and took ownership [of] the missteps that Target has made,” Bryant said. “[Fiddelke] is looking forward to building a relationship and even open [to] us holding accountability over the next two years.”
In a statement released Wednesday the retailer said it was “more committed than ever to creating growth and opportunity for all.”
“We’re pleased to be moving forward, and we will continue showing up as trusted neighbors while delivering results for our team members, guests and the more than 2,000 communities in which we serve,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Because when those communities thrive, so do we.”
As for Bryant, he said the criticism he’s received online affirms that the Target economic protests are “on the right page.”
“People feel passionately about righteous indignation and standing out,” he said. “I am grateful that a generation is taking the baton and running with it. It says that perseverance and stick-to-it-tiveness matters.”
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