Disney, a US media company, has revised its initiatives for diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) as a factor in its employees’ compensation, deviating in part from previous concepts. According to a report by Axios, Sonia Coleman, head of human resources, announced this change in a letter to the staff.
Starting this year, Disney will replace the “Diversity and Inclusion” component, which previously served as a benchmark for evaluating senior leadership, with a new component called the “Talent Strategy.” This new component will focus on business success and the preservation of the company’s values, rather than promoting diversity and inclusion.
Additionally, Disney will be discontinuing its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program, launched in 2021, which aimed to ensure that 50% of the characters in Disney screenplays would come from underrepresented groups. The program will now be renamed “MyDisneyToday” and will focus on recruiting top talent.
Furthermore, the company will modify content warnings for some older films, such as “Peter Pan” and “Dumbo.” Disney will alter the disclaimer at the beginning of the films, changing the previous statement, which read, “This program may contain negative portrayals and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures” to, “This program is presented as originally produced and may contain stereotypes or negative portrayals.”
These changes are part of a broader development affecting companies like Amazon and Meta, which have recently revised or discontinued their diversity programs to avoid potential legal consequences under the Trump administration. Immediately after taking office, Trump signed several executive orders that effectively banned DEI initiatives in the public sector and urged private companies to reevaluate similar programs.