Salesforce CEO's Jokes About ICE Edited Out of Internal Keynote Recording

Benioff's remarks about immigration enforcement agency reportedly caused discomfort among employees.

Published on Feb. 11, 2026

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A recording of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's recent company kickoff event was posted internally, but his jokes about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were edited out. Several employees who heard the remarks said Benioff asked people in the audience to stand if they came from outside the US, and then apparently joked that ICE agents were in the back room. Benioff also complained about Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance, according to the employees.

Why it matters

Benioff's comments about ICE, an agency that has faced significant criticism over its immigration enforcement tactics, sparked discomfort among Salesforce employees. The editing of the remarks from the internal recording suggests the company wanted to distance itself from the controversial statements.

The details

According to internal messages and an excerpt of the video viewed by Business Insider, the recording of Benioff's keynote speech at the 'Company Kickoff' event for Salesforce employees showed a jump cut during the introduction, where the frame switched to a view of the audience before Benioff appeared on the opposite side of the stage. This editing suggests the ICE-related jokes were removed from the recording.

  • The keynote event took place earlier this week.

The players

Marc Benioff

The CEO of Salesforce, a major cloud computing company.

Rob Seaman

The new general manager of Salesforce's Slack division, who addressed Benioff's comments in an internal message.

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What they’re saying

“I cannot defend or explain them. They do not align with my personal values and I know this to be the case for many of you as well.”

— Rob Seaman, Slack General Manager (Internal Slack message)

The takeaway

Benioff's controversial comments about ICE during an internal Salesforce event highlight the delicate balance companies must strike when addressing sensitive political and social issues, especially when it comes to employee morale and public perception.