While many corporations and universities have moved on from the divisive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ideology which did little to improve the lives of Americans—no matter their race or gender—but did plenty to divide and discriminate, Disney has firmly planted their flag on the side of “the resistance.” Despite a slew of failed movies that kneeled to the progressive altar—and an upcoming woke "Snow White" that is shaping up to be a Hollywood disaster of epic proportions—shareholders on Thursday refused to pull away from their costly efforts:
Disney shareholders rejected a proposal to stop participating in a national diversity, equity, and inclusion report.
Just 1% of shareholders voted to approve the proposal, according to an initial vote tally. Disney will share the final results in a filing next week.
The Walt Disney Company on Thursday held its annual shareholders meeting, during which the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, asked them to stop using the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index as a benchmark. The index measures companies by policies, benefits, and practices that support LGBTQ+ employees.
Is this helping the company make better movies or encouraging families to sign up for the streaming service Disney+? No. The company’s DEI and LGBTQ efforts aren’t the only cause of Disney+’s struggles, but they certainly haven’t helped the institution that until recent years could seem to do no wrong:
Disney has been struggling recently, which has included several Disney titles that were deemed box office flops in 2023—including Pixar's Elemental—declining linear TV viewership and an uneven transition into a streaming future.
The entertainment behemoth has been hemorrhaging money through its Disney+ streaming service but managed to curb losses by raising subscription costs. However, its theme parks have also been underperforming, with experts citing price hikes and increased competition as reasons for the decline in visitors post-pandemic.
In fact, their streaming division has generated total operating losses of $11.4 billion between the launch of Disney+ in fall 2020 and April 2024.
Read More: Disney Is About to Learn Some Hard Lessons As Snow White Forecasted to Bomb Entirely
The House of Mouse Isn't Shoving DEI Out the Door As They've Advertised
These are not @Disney “imagineers.” This is DEI killing the magic in the @DisneyParks. They don’t know what the customers want & they have no idea they are doing.#SaveSplashMountain @Disneyland @WaltDisneyCo @WaltDisneyWorld @RobertIger @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/eOZzaK0YcN
— Michael (@MTARDI32) March 16, 2025
Disney also famously got rolled by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when they tried to enforce their political views on the Sunshine State:
In 2022, the company publicly opposed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which bans discussing gender and sexuality in schools. DeSantis lashed out at the entertainment conglomerate, ultimately upending a long-standing arrangement that allowed Disney to self-govern through its Reedy Creek Improvement District.
DeSantis gained control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and renamed it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. He appointed its board supervisors, effectively removing Disney's autonomy over development in the area.
Oops. In tennis, they call that an "unforced error." Boy oh boy, Disney, you didn't need to go there, and you paid the price.
If you want to be charitable, you could posit that the original vision of DEI proponents was benevolent and they only strived to improve the lives of the under-represented and those who were treated unfairly. The movement quickly evolved into something that is anything but benevolent, though, as it sought to punish those who it considered “privileged” and worked to divide us along racial and gender lines instead of bringing us together. Untold billions have been fruitlessly thrown at the effort as university staffs became bloated with highly-paid “diversity coordinators” and government agencies—including the military—forgot their missions and instead focused on the dubious notion of "equity" instead of "equality."
Disney has paid a high price for all of their antics, including the fact that their reputation has hit the skids as they release crud movie after crud movie, parents no longer trust them, and the regular folk look to alternatives to their exorbitantly priced amusement parks.
Activist Robby Starbuck, who as I’ve reported has forced many major companies to abandon their DEI efforts after he exposed how ludicrous they were, probably isn’t going to be first in line at “Snow White”:
I just have to be real, as a Latino myself, none of us asked for Snow White to be a Latina. She shall henceforth be known as Snow DEI "White" and this movie will absolutely bomb because it’s ridiculous. Also, in real life she’s a far left lunatic.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 3, 2024
Another huge @Disney disaster. https://t.co/bizdz8UfxM
The shareholders don’t seem to care, though, and just voted to ensure that the vaunted company will continue to devolve.
Sad.
