Shannon Thaler
Conservative nonprofit America First Legal accused Disney of hurting its own shareholders with a “woke” political agenda that has its family friendly programs pushing “anti-police and anti-White content.”
The 50-page letter — penned by former US Department of Justice member and AFL’s senior vice president Reed Rubinstein — notes that Disney+ programming such as its “Rise Up, Sing Out” cartoon “tells young children that ‘racism in the world affects me and you’ and that their skin color is what defines them.”
This “woke virtue signaling” has had “economic and reputational consequences,” Rubinstein wrote, adding that since February 2021, Disney’s market cap has fallen nearly 40% — from $341 billion to $207 billion.
Elsewhere, an episode of “Muppet Babies” depicts Gonzo — a bird-like creature originally thought to be a boy — struggling to tell his friends that he wants to wear a dress to a party.
“He ultimately rejects societal norms and his biology by cross-dressing as the princess named ‘Gonzo-rella,’ whom the other Muppets celebrate,” Rubinstein wrote in the letter, which was sent to Disney executives Wednesday morning.
The note seeks to encourage Disney to ditch its progressive agenda and get back to its roots, which the company abandoned “in hopes of placating an insatiable activist movement that aims to radically reshape the Disney brand into something that is completely inconsistent with its history,” AFL executive director Gene Hamilton said.
As example of that: On Disney+, classics like “Peter Pan,” “Dumbo” and “The Aristocats” each feature “mandatory, unskippable twelve-second warnings about the ‘harmful impact’ of certain portrayals of people and cultures that “were wrong then and are wrong now,” according to AFL’s letter.
The “Rise up, Sing Out” cartoon — which is featured on Disney Junior, designed for viewers aged two through seven — also shows Black characters warning peers “that police might try to stop him on the street because he is Black,” per the note, which was penned to Disney chief Bob Iger and board chair Mark Parker.
Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” film released last year also describes police firing tear gas at “peaceful protestors.”
It is the latest of its kind from AFL, which was founded by Stephen Miller after serving as Donald Trump’s senior advisor for policy and White House director of speechwriting during his presidency.
Self-described as an anti-radical left group, the nonprofit has filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission targeting “woke” corporations like Nike, Mattel, Hershey, United Airlines and the National Football League, as well as school districts across the country addressing issues including discrimination against White people and pro-LGBTQ+ and pro-transgender initiatives.
In addition, AFL last month also filed a federal civil rights complaint against Disney for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by suggesting that it uses race, color, religion, sex or national origin as “often the only motivating factor in Disney’s hiring, training and promotion decisions,” per a press release on the nonprofit’s website.
Representatives for Disney did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Activist investor Nelson Peltz has been another outspoken critic of Disney’s stock, which he believes is undervalued and can benefit from achieving “Netflix-like streaming margins of 15% to 20% by 2027.”
In a blow to Disney last week, Peltz received a powerful endorsement in his battle against the entertainment conglomerate, when proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended shareholders elect him to the board.
This post was originally posted by New York Post
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