Disney enters Oscars weekend in chaos over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill response

nypost.com:

an escalating employee backlash at the Mouse House threatening to spoil the party.Disney is scrambling to contain the fallout over its response to a Florida bill that would bar teachers from discussing LGBTQ topics like sexual orientation or gender identity with students unless they’re in the fourth grade or higher.

The issue prompted an internal battle among company employees who are divided on whether Disney should get political.Left-leaning employees staged walkouts this week, arguing the company failed the LGBT community by initially failing to denounce the bill.

A separate group of conservative employees urged the company to stay “politically neutral” – arguing Disney has created an “environment of fear” for workers who don’t adhere to “progressive orthodoxy.”The battle over Disney’s political leanings reaches as high as the C-suite, with current CEO Bob Chapek reportedly preferring to stay out of partisan debates – and chafing at interference from his progressive-minded predecessor, supposedly retired executive chairman Bob Iger.The heated situation could overshadow the Oscars broadcast for ABC-owned Disney – with studios such as Marvel and Pixar and prominent celebrities such as actor Oscar Isaac and HBO host John Oliver among those who have pressured the corporation to take a stand.Disney attempted to stay out of the public debate over Florida’s law, which detractors have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

But the situation intensified on Feb. 24, when Iger tweeted that he agreed with President Biden’s stance that it was a “hateful bill” – even as Chapek-led Disney declined to take a public stance.