Dissent Grows At Disney Over Perceived “Capitulation” To Trump As DEI Initiatives Diminished

deadline.com:

Recent bends by Disney related to a court battle and diversity programs that appear to appease President Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd has left the home of the self-described happiest place on Earth not so joyful for some staff.

The moves at Disney come amid a hard push by the new Trump administration to end DEI initiatives. In addition to defunding and banning such programs in the federal government, there have been widespread actions by Trump and his team against media companies, including Trump’s now $20 billion lawsuit against CBS and the FCC launching an investigation into Comcast‘s policies to end “the scourge of DEI.” “It’s like Chapek on steroids!” one Mouse House insider exclaimed, a nod to the “Don’t Say Gay” stumble in 2022 by Disney’s short term ex-CEO Bob Chapek, after the now Bob Iger-run media giant unveiled shifts this week in its much touted diversity, equity and inclusion programs.In a memo to global staff Tuesday, Disney HR chief Sonia Coleman asserted that the changes and other related moves were intended to line up with self-declared  “business goals and company values.” Though under discussion for almost a year internally, the latest in a perceived series of walk-backs by Disney under Trump 2.0 was a hard pill to swallow for many staffers across various divisions of the company.

Calling the present state of diversity initiatives at Disney “uncertain,” the insider added: “What’s next? Where do we go from here?

What do we stand for now, keeping MAGA happy?” “This is not what I expected from Bob — I thought he had our back.” Another well positioned individual cited “embarrassment” over the public apology and $15 million-plus Disney paid out late last year to Trump‘s presidential foundation and