New York —

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, are fighting with the company’s parents about the independence of the brand they created nearly 50 years ago.

The pair, which no longer controls the company they created, wrote an open letter Tuesday addressed to the Magnum Ice Cream Company board, which is being spun off from Unilever. The letter asked that Ben & Jerry’s itself be spun off to operate independently, following several disputes over the years about its views on several issues, including criticism of President Donald Trump’s policies and Israel’s war in Gaza.

Cohen and Greenfield wrote that when they sold the ice cream brand to Unilever in 2000, Ben & Jerry’s was given the freedom to pursue its social mission, but Unilever has e

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