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The most direct evidence of a Disney clampdown is here. The controversial Ton Newton, architect of Reimagine Tomorrow, was silenced from an interview on diversity.
It may be a signal of something bigger or it may be all there is to this story. If it’s all there is, it’s plenty big enough. The Walt Disney Company refused to allow Chief Diversity Officer LaTondra Newton, architect of the Reimagine Tomorrow program at Disney, to speak to The Hollywood Reporter for an article focused on issues related to her. The article by Rebecca Sun titled “Hollywood’s Chief Diversity Officers Tell All” is absent the most famous CDO in all of Hollywood: Ton.
And the wording here is worth taking note:
This year, after Florida’s legislature passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill banning teachers from discussing gender and sexual orientation in classrooms, Disney (given its theme parks and significant investment in the state) came under pressure from its employees for its financial contributions to anti-gay Florida officials as well as its initial silence over the legislation. On March 2, CDO Latondra Newton sent out an internal statement, titled “Showing Support for Our LGBTQ+ Community,” promising that the company would discuss the “issues of concern” at gatherings scheduled for March 22 and April 13. “Our hope in having a CDO would be to hold the company to account, rather than release statements that toe the company line,” read a response to Disney leadership signed by “the queer/LGBTQIA+ employees of The Walt Disney Co. and their allies” that was posted on social media March 8. “We need an advocate, not a figurehead.”
Disney declined to make Newton available for comment, but her counterparts acknowledge the skepticism that surrounds the job. “We’re trying to make a change within a capitalist corporate situation, so you have to be a lot of different people for a lot of different people,” says Netflix’s Myers. “I try to stay close to the people experiencing the most direct impact, and you have to come up and down [the organizational ranks]. As a leader, to the extent I can, [I] communicate the stakes and details. [Sometimes] you have to call people out, but you’ve got to do it in a compassionate way that they still want to be part of the change.”
There are a few things to correct here. It’s a little disconcerting that we have to correct what should be an objective bit of journalism, but by now we all know how this works:
- The bill in discussion banned classroom discussions of gender and sexual theory in preschool through third grade classrooms. It did not ban teachers from discussing gender and/or sexual orientation in all classrooms.
- Disney came under little pressure from their Florida employees. A grand total of one individual protested at Walt Disney World, photo included below. The pressure came from an organization called “Disney Walkout” which seems to have been created via collaboration with rogue leadership elements and mostly assisted via Pixar, Disney Animation Studios and Lucasfilm.
- Ton Newton did make those statements, which were antithetical to what Bob Chapek and Geoff Morrell were saying at the time.
The lone protester who showed up on the “Disney Walkout Day” at Walt Disney World.
The important part of this story, however, is the wording in the second paragraph quoted. Let’s review it again:
“Disney declined to make Newton available for comment, but her counterparts acknowledge the skepticism that surrounds the job.”
There’s an important distinction here that the author is relaying and we need to pay attention to. Who declined? Ton didn’t decline. The Hollywood Reporter didn’t decline. Disney declined. And Ton Newton is the CDO… she’s theoretically one level lower than Bob Chapek, right? So who declined to let Ton Newton speak to The Hollywood Reporter?
It could be CEO, Bob Chapek. It could be Chairperson for the Board of Directors, Susan Arnold. But it’s probably, almost-definitely Bob Chapek.
Interesting…
Maybe Bob’s not too happy with that hostage video he had to do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDw2t5EcI18
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