Is Disney going broke after becoming ‘woke’?
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In its annual fiscal report, released on Sept. 30, Disney expressed concern over how the company’s political stances are affecting profitability margins.
“We face risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment, travel and consumer products,” the annual Securities and Exchange Commission report stated.
The report added that revenues and profitability can be negatively impacted if the company’s offerings “do not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance.”
“Further, consumers’ perceptions of our position on matters of public interest, including our efforts to achieve certain of our environmental and social goals, often differ widely and present risks to our reputation and brands,” the SEC filing said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on his “Verdict” podcast this week, called the disclosures “stunning,” adding, “Because what that means, is No. 1, Disney has lost billions of dollars. The phrase, ‘go woke, go broke,’ Disney has sadly embodied that phrase.”
The company has received criticism from conservatives in recent years taking partisan stances and using movies geared toward children to further the ideas of diversity in gender and sexual identity in recent years.
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Polls showcase this partisan disapproval: Republicans said they had more negative feelings towards Disney, according to an Axios survey from earlier this year.
In March 2022, Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis butted heads when the then-Mickey Mouse Company CEO Bob Chapek bluntly opposed the Parental Rights in Education Act — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics. The controversial legislation prohibited instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in any classroom before fourth grade.
“When the company publicly declares its opposition to a popular parental rights bill in Florida, it is moving away from a commercial to a political focus,” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley in his assessment of the SEC report, published in The Hill.
More recently, lead Disney stars like Rachel Zegler, who is playing Snow White in a live-action remake of the fairy tale, have received pushback for criticizing the storyline of the original movie.
“I just mean that it’s no longer 1937,” Zegler told Variety a year ago. “She’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love; she’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.”
Disney received pushback over the portrayal of the “seven dwarfs” and their politically correct leading actress, as The Los Angeles Times reported. Amid the Hollywood actors strike, the film’s release was ultimately postponed to March 2025, a year later than the original date.
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