Panicked Seattle mayor heaps compliments on Starbucks after previously calling for boycott of chain which has started to move its HQ out of city

By WILKO MARTÍNEZ-CACHERO, US REPORTER Published: 21:46, 5 June 2026 | Updated: 21:49, 5 June 2026 Seattle's avowed socialist mayor Katie Wilson lauded Starbucks just months after proudly calling for a boycott of the coffee giant. In November, Wilson, 43, joined striking Starbucks employees outside the company's former Reserve Roastery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood just east of downtown, leading chants to 'fight back' against the massively popular brand. 'That is why I am proud to join them on their picket line and proud to say loud and clear, I am not buying Starbucks and you should not either,' she said then, per KUOW. But on Wednesday, Wilson admitted that she had broken her boycott 'a little while ago' while visiting the landmark Pike Place Market, where Starbucks was founded 55 years ago. 'I ordered, I think it was a blueberry muffin latte,' Wilson said during an interview with FOX 13 Seattle. When pressed on whether she still supported boycotting Starbucks, Wilson did not provide much clarity on what led to her decision to order the apparently staff-created drink. 'I guess I broke my boycott and yeah, but I, you know, I don't know,' she said. 'What do you want me to say about that?' Wilson's sudden about-face comes as Starbucks has begun shifting operations from Seattle, where it was founded, to Nashville, Tennessee, where it will open a new corporate office. Seattle mayor Katie Wilson said she ordered a blueberry muffin 'a little while ago' at Starbucks, even though she previously pushed for a boycott of the coffee chain Starbucks' global corporate headquarters (pictured) will remain in Seattle but the coffee giant is investing $100million in Tennessee and opening a Nashville corporate office Wilson has also dismissed concerns about whether Washington state's millionaire tax could drive the affluent out of the state Wilson, a so-called 'democratic socialist', laughed after her answer and insisted that she 'absolutely' supported unions and workers. 'I went to the store to talk to the workers there who are organizing a union,' she said. When she joined the striking workers in November, Wilson said Starbucks baristas 'deserve[d] better than empty promises and corporate union bustings.' 'This is your hometown and mine,' she said to loud cheers. 'Seattle's making some changes right now, and I urge you to do the right thing.' 'Because in Seattle, when workers' rights are under attack, what do we do?' Wilson, the mayor-elect at the time, asked the striking employees. 'Stand up, fight back,' the crowd responded multiple times. Last month, Wilson seemingly reversed her call on the picket line, when she previously urged her constituents to not buy from Starbucks. 'Those comments were not productive in the sense that they caused more harm than good,' she told The New York Times. As mayor-elect, Wilson joined striking Starbucks workers on their picket line and urged her constituents to boycott the coffee giant Wilson admitted this week that she had broken her Starbucks boycott at the Pike Place Market (pictured) View this post on Instagram Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who remains the coffee giant's chairman emeritus, previously said that Wilson had 'chosen to cast business as a foil rather than a partner.' 'Her socialist rhetoric vilifies employers, even while she continues to rely on them for revenue,' Schultz wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on May 11. Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle in 1971 at the Pike Place Market, where Wilson said she broke her boycott. Schultz bought the firm in August 1987 for $3.8million, according to CNBC. Now, the coffee chain has a market cap of about $109.3 billion with more than 32,000 stores across 80 different countries. In April, Starbucks announced that it would invest $100million into Tennessee and open a Southeast corporate office in Nashville. A temporary office opened last month and a permanent location is scheduled to open next year. The chain said it would hire 2,000 people to work out of Nashville, though it insisted that the company's global headquarters would remain in Seattle. Wilson previously said that Starbucks baristas 'deserve[d] better than empty promises and corporate union bustings' (Photo of a Starbucks in Seattle) Despite acknowledging that she had broken the boycott she urged her constituents to follow last year, Wilson insisted that she supported unions and workers Starbucks announced that it open a Southeast corporate office in Nashville with 2,000 new jobs  In turn, the chain's expansion in Tennessee could cause Washington state to lose up to $750 million in tax revenue in the coming years, according to FOX 13 Seattle. Wilson said she was not surprised by the company's expansion into Nashville, noting that her office had a positive relationship with Starbucks. 'I want them here and I believe they want to be here,' Wilson told The New York Times. Last month, the Seattle mayor also caused controversy when she dismissed concerns about Washington state's millionaires tax. 'I think the claims that millionaires are gonna leave our state are super overblown,' Wilson said. 'And to the ones that leave? Like, bye,' she added with a wave. The measure, which was signed into law in March, will go into effect on January, 1, 2028, and impose a 9.9 percent tax on households whose annual earnings exceed $1million. The Daily Mail has reached out to Wilson's office for further comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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