I have found it interesting, to say the least, how The Walt Disney Company has seemingly done back flips to reverse course on their approach to the Florida legislation that prohibits curriculum teaching young children about sexual orientation and gender theory. “What’s that?” you ask. “Disney was once for the legislation?” Well, no, not quite. But they also didn’t want any part of a public position on the legislation either. Seems quaint given the ruckus that they’ve created over it now, eh? After all, they’re still putting out statements:
Statement from The Walt Disney Company on signing of Florida legislation: pic.twitter.com/UVI7Ko3aKS
— The Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 28, 2022
And it’s not as if this is going over particularly well for Disney. They’re far past the point of getting easy accolades from readers. Take a look at these responses that garnered thousands of likes… and consider whether or not this is making Disney a more or less popular company:
I support the Florida anti-grooming bill.
3rd grade children shouldn’t be talking about sex.
Businesses who think 3rd grade children should be talking about sex
shouldn’t be getting our business.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) March 28, 2022
How about you stand up for the rights and safety of your most vulnerable demographic and vet your employees better first and foremost? Seems to be a reoccurring problem with your company… pic.twitter.com/wlbkmmKM3J
— Five Times August (@FiveTimesAugust) March 28, 2022
Are you also dedicated to standing for the rights of parents and the safety of children?
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) March 28, 2022
So those are just some of the responses to the Disney statement, each of those responses receiving thousands of likes and bringing up topics Disney would rather stay away from. Such is the cost of taking a position on a highly contentious political issue. While you might not agree with Disney’s original position of staying out of this fight, it’s at least understandable now that the mud is starting to fly. So let’s take a look at where Bob Chapek started prior to former CEO, Robert Iger, dropping a bomb on the company by putting a statement out on his own.
From Bezinga on March 4th:
Chapek has offered no public opinion on the matter. The Hollywood Reporter, citing an unnamed “knowledgeable source,” stated that Chapek doesn’t want to steer the company “into issues he deems irrelevant to the company and its businesses.”
According to THR, Disney’s top brass thought the issue was “irrelevant”… because don’t believe for a second that Bob Chapek stands as an island all by himself. This is a man who was selected specifically by the Board of Directors to steer the company away from Iger’s politicization and back to an investment-first corporation. We can see that this decision-making went through more than one person and was the de facto standard of the Chapek era with the following quote from a Chapek-hire and former Republican administration spokesperson, Geoff Morrell:
“Whatever Bob’s personal politics are, he’s not an activist and does not bring any partisan agenda to work. He sees himself first and foremost as the custodian of a unifying brand that for nearly a century has been bringing people together, and he is determined that Disney remain a place where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.”
Newly-hired Disney Executive Geoff Morrell
Notice the beginning position. 1) Stay away from that which is irrelevant. 2) Personal politics, activism, and partisanship are no-gos. 3) Unify. 4) Treat everyone with respect.
How far we have come from all of that. So what in the world happened?
Before I delve too deeply into this, let me say that I am not maligning anyone in this article. Bob Chapek and Geoff Morrell have their own position, they had a position, it’s probably the same private position. The lady I’m about to discuss has a differing opinion. These two sides are in conflict, but that doesn’t mean we need to demonize or be hateful to either viewpoint. If you’re strongly in favor of Disney going all-in on pushing leftward political causes, you still don’t have to hate Chapek and Morrell. If you’re strongly in favor of Disney remaining neutral, there’s no need to despise who I’m about to discuss. Kindness goes a long ways.
All of that said, clearly something changed in Disney’s posture, right? I would argue to you that it was changing underneath Bob Chapek before he even knew what was coming for him. I say that because sources have told me that part of what is happening is that Bob Chapek has an executive leadership issue. While most of the Board is likely on his side, he may have some executives within his leadership structure that have different goals than he might want. Some of these individuals were brought on during the Iger era for political or cultural causes. The one person I’d like to bring up in this article is SVP & Chief Diversity Officer at The Walt Disney Company, Latondra Newton. My reasoning is that I don’t want to name names unless I have rock-solid sources… and in this one particular case, I do.
In the same Bezinga article, it’s noted that even while Bob Chapek and Geoff Morrell are taking one position, behind the scenes, Latondra Newton (Ton is her nickname) is pushing a different narrative:
On Wednesday, Disney’s Chief Diversity Officer Latondra Newton sent an internal memo citing the “deeply troubling and heartbreaking” developments regarding the legislation in announcing that Chapek sought “to meet with leaders in our company’s LGBTQ+ community to discuss how Disney can best support these important and valued employees and cast members.”
Remember, this is before Chapek and Disney make a hard 180. Even at that point, Newton is putting out leaked internal memos that label the problem as “heartbreaking”. So who is Ton Newton?
Well, don’t be surprised if she’s every bit the opposite of Geoff Morrell that you might imagine. Two different CEOs, two different board of directors, two very different hires. So with Ton Newton, Disney has a lady who made her way up the chain at Toyota and earned herself a major name by navigating a Supreme Court case that featured Chief Justice John Roberts. But aside from the business aspect of Ms. Newton, she is also quite the eclectic lady. Netwon owns and runs a jewelry company on the side that excludes men from nearly any position possible. I’m not making this up either… from her Speakerpedia page:
“Virtually all of stôn’s collaborators are women — including operations staff, photographers, web designers, and branding agents — and the company works in partnership with non-profits that make a positive impact on issues that are important for women.”
On top of the non-Disney company she runs being female-only, Newton’s ultra-expensive accessories are also interesting in their design. Take a look:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdUY9-VFvMv/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
Maybe that style of jewelry is right up your alley. If so, we encourage you to go to Newton’s stôn website, where you can find out more about her work. There you’ll find testimonies, reviews, and even an image of Ton herself showing off her jewelry in a very artistic setting. I only use this image because it perfectly incapsulates the difference in the executives at Disney. Look at the image of Geoff Morrell above as he speaks from the Pentagon. That is a Bob Chapek hire. Now look at Ton below in her photo shoot for a women-ran jewelry company:
Disney’s Chief Diversity Officer, Latondra Newton
Ms. Newton is a beautiful woman, incredibly accomplished, and someone worthy of admiration and respect. I just think it is interesting to look at the two photos because you absolutely could not find a better representation of business versus art. These are two individuals with completely different mindsets, and they seem to me to represent the two totally different mindsets of the former and current CEOs.
Okay, enough about their worldviews and personas being so different… what is it that Ton Newton has done that shows there may be division within the executive leadership at Disney and the Board at large?
Beyond writing an internal memo that would inevitably leak, Mrs. Newton would go on to take full advantage of Disney’s turnaround. Once things began to change, it was she that moderated the first “listening session” — an event in which a law forbidding explicit sex education for kindergartners was literally compared to the Holocaust. No, I’m not making that up.
The company’s chief diversity officer, Latondra Newton, moderated a discussion with Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, which bills itself as the state’s largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Smith explained why she felt the legislation is a threat and why it was important to speak up, citing Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: “What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander.” The event’s hosts didn’t take questions from employees.
More important from the Bloomberg piece, however, is a little snippet that might not mean much to many people. However, if you understand what it means, it speaks volumes. Read along:
“The town hall was part of a larger Disney effort called Reimagine Tomorrow, which is designed to promote diversity and inclusion at the world’s largest entertainment company. Previous gatherings have covered Black representation, violence against the Asian-American community and antisemitism.”
When Bob Chapek caved, he caved hard. Because the “listening tour” isn’t its own thing that Disney can easily control. Instead, it was nested inside the Reimagine Tomorrow program, which is so radical that it 1) had to be stripped from the website and cleansed after it was discovered it promoted critical race theory and controversial teachings, as well as 2) is now mostly illegal in the state of Florida. Listen, your diversity program has to be really out there to be made illegal by a legislature of any political background. Yet Reimagine Tomorrow is Ton Newton’s baby. It’s a product of her being brought into Disney by Robert Iger. As she said when it launched:
“We are excited to introduce Reimagine Tomorrow, an effort that embodies Disney’s long-standing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and shines a light on the scope of our aspirations. The Reimagine Tomorrow digital destination, which is accessible to our own employees, community partners and fans, will evolve as we advance our efforts. Our intention is to make sure every person sees themselves or their life experiences represented in a meaningful way.”
That’s why it’s brilliant that the proponents within Disney of becoming political are moving their actions inside the Reimagine Tomorrow program. It almost certainly can’t be killed. It has a huge budget. It’s ideologically driven. And once something is on the agenda inside of that program, there’s very little the CEO or Board can do to curtail it.
Is there a divide within Disney about how to move forward? You bet. One side is just showing itself far more savvy than the other. And that’s how Mickey flip-flopped in such fast fashion.
For all the latest on the news that should be fun, keep checking out That Park Place! And, as always, please share your thoughts in the comments below. We’d love to hear them — but be polite and kind to those with whom you disagree.
