Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy sat down with NBC’s Today co-host Craig Melvin on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, and delivered a clear answer on one long-standing question—and a studied non-answer on another. On Sunday closures: he confirmed the policy stands. On LGBTQ+ controversy: he did not address it directly.
Cathy, who succeeded his father Dan Cathy as CEO in 2021, told Melvin the company was founded with the purpose of being “a glorifier of God”—a tradition S. Truett Cathy established when he founded the company in the 1940s, making Sunday closures a permanent feature. When Melvin pressed on the 2012 same-sex marriage boycotts and the company’s 2019 tax filings showing $1.75 million in Chick-fil-A Foundation donations to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes ($1.6 million) and the Salvation Army ($150,000) before a giving pivot toward education, homelessness, and hunger, Andrew Cathy steered back to the company’s hospitality focus: “We’re focused on hospitality, serving great-tasting food, and great service,” he told Melvin, adding that the company is “focused on serving everybody that comes in to eat with us.” Former Today anchor Katie Couric called it “a non answer answer.” The chain’s annual sales have grown to nearly $24 billion today despite each controversy.
For customers wondering whether Chick-fil-A might open on Sundays or shift its corporate stance on LGBTQ+ rights, Cathy’s answer is that the Sunday policy is not changing. Restaurants will remain closed every Sunday as standard policy, and the company will continue directing its public messaging to hospitality rather than revisiting pre-2019 donation controversies.
Will Chick-fil-A ever open on Sundays under CEO Andrew Cathy?
No. Andrew Cathy confirmed on NBC’s Today that staying closed on Sundays—a policy started in the 1940s so workers can rest or attend church—is a permanent part of the company’s purpose and is not under review.
