Did Rob Ford pour out crown royal

Checked on January 13, 2026
Disclaimer: Factually can make mistakes. Please verify important information or breaking news. Learn more.

Executive summary

No — the available reporting documents that Ontario premier Doug Ford, not Rob Ford, ceremonially opened and poured out a bottle of Crown Royal in protest of Diageo’s decision to close an Amherstburg bottling plant; there is no evidence in these sources that Rob Ford performed this act [1] [2] [3]. Multiple Canadian and international outlets describe the September 2025 incident and the ensuing feud between Doug Ford and Diageo, and they consistently attribute the bottle‑dumping to Doug Ford [1] [2] [3].

1. The act that made headlines: Doug Ford emptied a bottle of Crown Royal

At a September 2025 press event in Kitchener, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford produced a bottle of Crown Royal, opened it and poured its contents onto the ground to dramatize his anger after parent company Diageo announced the closure of an Amherstburg bottling plant — a protest captured and reported by multiple outlets including Global News and CBC [1] [2]. The Guardian and other outlets ran photos and video accounts of Ford “slowly pour[ing] the hazel liquid onto the ground,” underscoring that this was a deliberate publicity gesture tied to job losses and broader trade complaints [3].

2. Where the misattribution can come from: Doug vs. Rob Ford

The surname “Ford” has strong name recognition in Ontario politics and is shared by Rob Ford (the late Toronto mayor) and his brother Doug Ford (the current premier), which makes casual or viral references susceptible to error; the circulation of a striking image or short clip can detach from precise attribution and lead to misnaming (no source explicitly documents misattributed social posts in the provided reporting). The reporting here, however, uniformly identifies Doug Ford as the actor in the Crown Royal protest and links the action to his ongoing dispute with Diageo over plant closures and potential LCBO delisting [1] [2] [4].

3. Context: the political dispute behind the stunt

Doug Ford’s bottle‑dumping was not an isolated theatrical moment but part of an escalating conflict with Diageo over the closure of the Amherstburg bottling plant and the relocation of some bottling operations to the U.S.; Ford has threatened to remove Crown Royal and other Diageo products from Ontario’s Liquor Control Board (LCBO) shelves and repeatedly vowed to punish the company for the move [4] [5] [6]. Diageo has countered that mash, distillation and ageing for Crown Royal will continue in Canada and that bottling for Canadian markets would still occur at other Canadian facilities, a claim Ford has publicly dismissed [3] [7].

4. How the press recorded the moment — consistent attributions across outlets

Major Canadian broadcasters and newspapers reported the exact same sequence: Ford found or brought a bottle, opened it, and poured it out during remarks about workers and job losses, with outlets publishing video and photographic evidence of the act [1] [2] [3]. Trade and spirits‑industry outlets likewise referenced the incident when covering Ford’s subsequent threats and the broader commercial fallout, maintaining the attribution to Doug Ford [8] [5].

5. Limits of available reporting and remaining uncertainty

The set of sources supplied contains no contemporaneous evidence that Rob Ford—who is not referenced in these accounts in connection with Crown Royal—was involved in or carried out the pouring; therefore, beyond noting the absence of such evidence in the provided reporting, this analysis cannot say whether any stray social posts or misreports elsewhere have ever mislabelled the actor (no source in the provided set documents any claim that Rob Ford poured Crown Royal). Additionally, these sources focus on the political symbolism and consequences of Doug Ford’s protest rather than cataloguing every instance of misattribution, so the prevalence of any blurred naming in social media is outside the scope of the current reporting (no source addresses social media misattribution in detail).

6. Bottom line

Contemporary, on‑the‑record coverage attributes the act of pouring out Crown Royal to Doug Ford as a theatrical protest against Diageo’s plant closure; within the provided reporting there is no factual basis to say Rob Ford did this [1] [2] [3]. Any claim that “Rob Ford poured out Crown Royal” conflicts with the documented accounts, and should be treated as a misattribution unless substantiated by reliable primary reporting that is not present in the materials supplied.

Want to dive deeper?
What did Diageo say about Crown Royal production and bottling locations after the Amherstburg closure announcement?
How have provincial liquor boards responded historically when governments threatened to delist major brands?
Which fact‑checking resources track misattributions between Doug Ford and Rob Ford in Canadian news coverage?