Tokyo Olympics’ president apologizes for sexist remarks, CMT, others cut ties with Morgan Wallen, and Merck’s chief to step down

Hello, communicators:  

Merck & Co.’s chief executive , Kenneth Frazier, is stepping down at the end of June. He will transition to the company’s executive chairman and will be replaced by its current chief financial officer, Robert Davis.

Yahoo Finance reported:

“His shoes won’t be easy to fill in so many ways, both within Merck but also including his many principled and valuable contributions to important issues facing society today,” Davis said on a post-earnings conference call.

Frazier is “one of only a handful of Black executives leading major U.S. companies,” Yahoo reported, so communicators should expect additional scrutiny of organization’s DE&I initiatives, especially hiring practices and the C-suite makeup.

Here are today’s top stories:

Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee, issued a mea culpa after backlash over his remarks that increasing the number of female board members would cause meetings to run over.

The New York Times reported: