Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, was known to be very liberal and championed “diversity and inclusion” until it wasn’t profitable. Now, under his leadership, the company is walking it back.
When Bob Chapek was briefly in charge of the Walt Disney Company, he tried to walk back politics and agenda by staying out of the situation in Florida. This led to Disney employees demanding the CEO and company take a side in the Parental Rights and Education Bill in Florida (Don’t Say Gay.)
During this period of unrest, Bob Iger appeared in a Chris Wallace interview and threw kerosene on the fire by saying it’s a “right and wrong” topic, and boycotts and backlash don’t matter.
“We never really saw much evidence of that, even though there were threats about boycotts on certain things. Again, when you are dealing with right and wrong, and when you are dealing with something that does have a profound impact on your business, I just think you have to do what is right and not worry about the potential backlash to it.”
When Bob Iger returned to the Walt Disney Company, he said that “diversity and inclusion” were the company’s “core values.”
“This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world, and one of the reasons they have had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance, and we can’t lose that..”
However, those values changed after several theatrical and Disney+ failures. Money is once again the driving force for Iger and Disney.
Now it’s being reported that Disney has given notes on a film and Disney+ series walking back the LGBTQ+ representation.
Sources from Pixar have claimed that they were told to make Riley, a 13-year-old girl, “less gay.”
Disney leadership reportedly put a large part of the failure of ‘LIGHTYEAR’ down to the same-sex kiss.
Continuous notes were then given to animators to make Riley come across as “less gay” in ‘INSIDE OUT 2’
(Source: https://t.co/V2X9lzANcw) pic.twitter.com/WsD11TexAm
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 16, 2024
IGN wrote about the situation, saying,
“The apparent hesitance to touch on LGBTQ themes storylines in particular affected Inside Out 2’s development, according to several of our sources. Multiple people recall hearing about continuous notes to make Riley, the main character of both Inside Out movies, come across as “less gay,” leading to numerous edits that ramped up around September 2023 after the resolution of the WGA strike. Sources describe rumors that there was special care put into making the relationship between Riley and Val, a supporting character introduced in Inside Out 2, seem as platonic as possible, even requiring edits to the lighting and tone of certain scenes to remove any trace of “romantic chemistry.” One source describes it as “just doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight.”
“Inside Out 2” went on to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time and is now the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. It made over $1.6 billion.
“Inside Out 2” wasn’t the only alleged casualty of the pivot.
Beau DeMayo, who his himself gay, also claims that he received similar notes regarding characters for the “X-Men ’97” Disney+ show.
Heard the same words “less gay” on #xmen97 when it came to Magnus and Xavier, as well as marketing 🤔 https://t.co/dyKunf7HJ8
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) September 17, 2024
He also revealed that Magneto was meant to be nude in the cartoon till he was forced to put underwear on him.
Originally, he was nude and the beat played as dehumanizing torture. It was Marvel’s idea to put him in briefs. The crew and I were so beaten down by that point we just gave each other looks, knowing their note would do the opposite. Such is ignorance…
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) September 17, 2024
Adding underwear is a change I understand. It’s still a cartoon.
True, but when they start misinterpreting two males exchanging a look of brotherly solidarity before battle as “too gay” and one execs favorite word “creepy,” there’s an issue.
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) September 17, 2024
This all came after the leak about the notes for “Inside Out 2.”
Before this, DeMayo was fired from Disney under allegations of sexual misconduct. DeMayo refutes this and says it was due to an image of himself as Cyclops during Pride month.
Firstly, I’m so grateful to have worked on #XMen97, collaborating with some amazingly talented folks. Creating this revival was a dream come true and the support fans have shown is so touching. However, I felt it pressing for me to speak up in the wake of leaving the show… pic.twitter.com/kbOTL3IQJj
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) August 16, 2024
DeMayo claims that after he posted the image, he received a letter from Marvel (Disney) notifying him that his credit would be removed from Season 2 due to the post.
Now, two different studios claim that the Bob Iger-run company has chosen to omit at least the LGBTQ+ element of “diversity and inclusion.”
Does this mean Bob Iger isn’t the champion of representation that many felt he was? It seems that when it comes to money, he is fully conservative.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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