Struggling Disney hints its woke politics ‘present risks to our reputation and brands’
The Walt Disney Company acknowledged that its left-leaning politics may have alienated a segment of the population — putting a dent in the House of Mouse’s bottom line.
A recent company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission included a reference to “risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes.”
“Generally, our revenues and profitability are adversely impacted when our entertainment offerings and products, as well as our methods to make our offerings and products available to consumers, do not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance,” the company said in its SEC filing.
Disney went on to note that “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 contents of the SEC filing were noted earlier by legal scholar Jonathan Turley, who is also a columnist for The Hill.
CEO Bob Iger — who retook the reins at Disney a year ago after his chosen successor Bob Chapek came under fire for his management of the entertainment giant — told investors in late September that the company will “quiet the noise” in a culture war that has pitted social conservatives against the global media and entertainment conglomerate
The acknowledgment comes as Disney’s stock price tries to recover from a nine-year low while still involved in a bruising legal battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over legislation that bans the teaching of sex- and gender-identity education to elementary school students.
In March of last year, DeSantis allies in the Florida state legislature passed a measure dubbed by critics as “Don’t Say Gay” which proposed limiting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten to third grade.
Chapek, Disney’s then-CEO, bowed to pressure from outraged employees who demanded that the company publicly take a stand denouncing the bill.
After DeSantis signed the bill into law, Disney released a statement saying the legislation “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”
Disney’s public rebuke of DeSantis prompted the governor to move to strip the company of its semi-autonomous status which it enjoys by virtue of its control of the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District.
“If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” the Republican governor, who is among several candidates vying for the GOP nomination for president, said.
In November of last year, Chapek was ousted in favor of his predecessor, Bob Iger, who returned to helm the company.
Iger hit back at DeSantis, calling his policies “not just anti-Florida, but anti-business.”
In April, Disney filed a lawsuit against the governor, alleging that he violated the company’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech.
Disney has hit rough times economically. The company has been hamstrung by steep losses in its streaming division as well as underwhelming box office returns on big-budget pictures in the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” franchise.
“The Marvels,” its latest MCU sequel, has generated just $76.9 million domestically and $110.2 million overseas in the three weeks since it opened.
Disney’s most recent animated offering, “Wish,” managed just a measly $31.7 million over the five-day Thanksgiving period.
It had been forecast to debut closer to $50 million.
“Wish,” a fairy tale centered around a wished-upon star, fared better than last year’s Thanksgiving release for Disney, “Strange World,” which bombed with a $18.9 million holiday opening.
Disney reported sharp profit growth for its fiscal fourth quarter which ended in late September. It also announced additional cost-cutting measures totaling $7.5 billion — or $2 billion more than what was originally expected.
Disney’s stock was trading 1.2% lower. Its share price was just north of $94 as of 1 p.m. Eastern time.
In the last month, however, Disney’s stock price soared by more than 16% in value.
