Is Disney’s new CEO walking back DEI in the parks and movies?

Here is what Josh D’Amaro has verifiably done, what he has not, and where the viral version gets it wrong.

Josh D’Amaro became Disney’s CEO in March 2026, and this week the internet decided to find out what he has been doing.

Much of what is circulating compresses months of separate events into a single dramatic claim. Here is the actual record.

The layoffs are real, and they happened in spring

Shortly after taking over, D’Amaro announced approximately 1,000 layoffs, reported as falling primarily in marketing.

That was reported in May 2026, roughly four months ago.

No reporting I can find ties those layoffs to a stated cultural motive. The framing circulating online, that the cuts were made to restore a particular kind of company culture, does not appear in coverage from any outlet that reported the layoffs.

The park greeting change is also real, and also older

Disney World revived the “Ladies and gentlemen” greeting after years of gender-neutral phrasing, reported by Fox Business on April 15, 2026.

That reversed a change Disney made in 2022, when the company phased out “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” across park greetings. PolitiFact examined the monorail greeting question in April and confirmed company leaders had acknowledged implementing gender-neutral speech in 2021 and 2022.

The reversal is documented. Whether D’Amaro personally directed it has not been reported by anyone.

What D’Amaro has actually said

His own public statements are on the record and they are considerably less dramatic than the viral version.

In his first memo to employees, he wrote about his own history with the company, recalling riding Peter Pan’s Flight with his father. He said “great storytelling and creative excellence” would be Disney’s “North Star.”

“At its best, Disney creates stories, characters, and experiences that people connect with deeply and carry with them for a lifetime,” he wrote.

He has not made public statements about eliminating gender-neutral language.

The DEI changes started before he became CEO

Disney dropped its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program from the diversity section of its 2024 SEC 10-K in February 2025, more than a year before D’Amaro became CEO. That happened under Bob Iger.

But D’Amaro was in charge of theme parks.

Disney also rebranded its Employee Resource Groups from “Business” to “Belonging” ERGs and revised content disclaimers on its streaming platforms during that same period.

Where Disney’s business actually stands

U.S. park attendance declined roughly 1 percent during 2025, with criticism about the cost of visiting continuing to rise. For many families, a Disney trip stopped feeling financially accessible.

More recently, Disney reported Experiences segment revenue of $9.97 billion, up 10 percent, and raised its full-year guidance for that division.

D’Amaro came up through the parks. He ran Disney Experiences before taking the top job, which is the division currently carrying the company.

What is still unresolved

Several things about D’Amaro’s tenure genuinely have not been settled.

The company is navigating whether to position itself as more traditional or more representative, and the answer will be tested against audiences with different expectations by generation. Coverage describes that balancing act as a defining challenge of his leadership.

Separately, Disney notified more than 200,000 employees that beginning in 2027, they will not be able to enroll a spouse on the company health plan if that spouse’s job offers any coverage.

Nothing is directly attributed to D.E.I.

That is worth knowing whichever way you feel about the underlying changes, and both sides of that argument have been made loudly.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Google Trends (August 28-29, 2026), the search volume figures

• Colombia One (May 8, 2026), the approximately 1,000 layoffs and the attendance decline

• Fox Business (April 15, 2026), the “Ladies and gentlemen” greeting revival

• PolitiFact (April 17, 2026), the gender-neutral speech timeline and company acknowledgments

• WFMD (March 2026), D’Amaro’s first employee memo

• Inside the Magic and HR Grapevine (February 2025), the Reimagine Tomorrow retirement under Iger

• WDW News Today (August 21, 2026), the spousal healthcare change