Disney has been in a state of upheaval.
The company decided to get involved in the culture wars, and suffered the consequences.
Now one Disney executive crossed Ron DeSantis and lived to regret it.
Disney joined the slew of companies that thought it was a good idea to go completely “woke.”
Worse yet, Disney chose to dip its nose directly into politics and strongarm Florida Governor Ron DeSantis into scuttling the Parental Rights in Education bill, pejoratively dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by liberals.
The move failed, as even a majority of Florida Democrats supported the legislation, which merely prohibited classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
The dust-up over the law caused internal conflict at the company.
And one of the executives who subtly pressured CEO Bob Chapek to intervene against the legislation is out at the company.
Peter Rice, Disney General Entertainment Content chairman, was fired supposedly for business strategy reasons.
When Chapek originally opted to stay out of the Florida controversy, Rice publicly stated, “Personally, I see this law as a violation of fundamental human rights.”
It’s unclear how precluding sex and gender topic discussions with young elementary school kids is a violation of fundamental human rights.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that “the fallout over Chapek’s initial position on Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation, which was to not take a position, added to the growing unease within Disney and in the creative community about Chapek’s leadership. He is known as a top-down manager, more of a talker than a listener. ‘It’s funny how many people have said to me, “It’s such a giant mess, but I’m not surprised,”’ says another longtime Disney insider. ‘That’s part of what makes it difficult to recover from.’”
Chapek eventually caved to the pressure from progressives within the company and spoke out against the Florida law.
Florida Republicans responded by stripping Disney’s special tax and regulatory dispensation.
DeSantis has not been afraid to take on “woke” corporations that attempt to coerce politicians.
Before signing the bill, DeSantis said of Disney, “I…think that you have companies like a Disney that are gonna say and criticize parents’ rights, they’re gonna criticize the fact that we don’t want transgenderism in kindergarten and first grade classrooms. If that’s the hill that they’re gonna die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationship from the Communist Party of China? Because that’s what they do, and they make a fortune and they don’t say a word about the really brutal practices that you see over there at the hands of the CCP.”
Chapek made the fundamental mistake of caving to the mob, and it’s led to chaos within his ranks.
It also does not help that executives have been caught admitting they’re injecting radical concepts into the content aimed at children.
SCOOP: I've obtained video from inside Disney's all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a "not-at-all-secret gay agenda" and is regularly "adding queerness" to children's programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Disney has completely lost its way and has given in to wokeness.
