Earlier this week, it was revealed that Brendan Carr, who was recently made the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Trump, was going to start an investigation into Disney and ABC as part of his task to sort out major corporations’ Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Carr has already begun an investigation into Comcast and Verizon, but today, Carr revealed a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger informing them of his decision to investigate Disney and ABC to ensure that they have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.

Many of the biggest corporations have been rolling back their DEI programs, with Disney has also been making major changes to its policies such as ending its “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative, which promoted stories from underrepresented groups.  It has also been making some changes to content warnings on older films on Disney+, along with taking out some controversial storylines in animated shows such as “Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur” and “Win Or Lose”.

In the letter, Carr acknowledges that he is aware of Disney making changes within its businesses, but he wants to ensure that no other policies are in place.  

Disney has had many political problems over the past few years, such as when the company got into a culture war with the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”, resulting in Disney losing many special rights it had in the state.  There’s also been many other problems for Disney with some of its programming not clicking with audiences due with box office disasters like “Lightyear”, “Strange World”, “Snow White”,  “The Little Mermaid”, “The Marvels” and “Captain America: Brave New World”, along with poor viewership of Disney+ shows like “The Acolyte”, following these projects being labeled as “woke”.  

This is one primary reason why Disney has begun making changes to its policies as they may have impacted on creative decisions that audiences haven’t enjoyed.   Disney is trying to avoid getting mixed up in more issues with the government and will likely try to keep everyone happy, which will likely be difficult.

In a statement to the press, a Disney spokesperson has said, “We are reviewing the Federal Communications Commission’s letter, and we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions.”

Here’s the full letter from Brendan Carr :

Dear Mr. Iger,

I am writing to inform you that I have asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation into Disney and ABC. In particular, I want to ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination. While I have seen reports that Disney recently walked back some of its DEI programs, significant concerns remain.

For one, I want to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name. For another, I want to determine whether Disney’s actions—whether ongoing or recently ended—complied at all times with applicable FCC regulations.

As you know, Disney started out a century ago as an iconic American company. For decades, Disney focused on churning out box office and programming successes. But then something changed. Disney has now been embroiled in rounds of controversy surrounding its DEI policies.

Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of DEI discrimination a few years ago and apparently did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions.

As you may know, the Communications Act and Commission rules prohibit regulated entities like Disney’s ABC from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender.¹ Indeed, the FCC’s longstanding equal employment opportunity or EEO rules set forth specific requirements to which Disney’s regulated operations must adhere.²

Nonetheless, I am concerned that ABC and its parent company have been or may still be promoting invidious forms of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations.

In recent years, Disney made DEI a key priority for the company’s businesses and embedded explicit race- and gender-based criteria across its operations. Indeed, public reports—including ones based on whistleblower documents—paint a disturbing picture of Disney’s DEI practices.

In at least one account, a Disney employee described the company’s decision to launch what would amount to racially-segregated affinity groups and spaces. The company also publicly launched a “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative; it would appear, as a mechanism for advancing its DEI mission. It also implemented mandatory “inclusion standards” across ABC requiring, for example, that “50 percent of regular and recurring characters” be drawn from “underrepresented groups.”

These standards may have forced racial and identity quotas into every level of production—demanding that “50% or more” of writers, directors, crew, and vendors be selected based on group identity. It appears that executive bonuses may also have been tied to DEI “performance,” and ABC has utilized race-based hiring databases and restricted fellowships to select demographic groups.

Although your company recently made some changes to how it brands certain efforts, it is not clear that the underlying policies have changed in a fundamental manner—nor that past practices complied with relevant FCC regulations.

As I have made clear, promoting invidious forms of discrimination cannot be squared with any reasonable interpretation of federal law. Doing so only deprives Americans of their rights to fair and equal treatment under the law.

Roger’s Take: With the political shift within the United States, many other studios and corporations are also rolling back their DEI policies.  Disney is going to have to navigate the change, while also trying not to annoy off customers and staff members, which will be almost impossible.   We will likely see more changes taking place within Disney, some of which could be public, but many of which will likely be internal, and we won’t know the impact for years.  

But I do think Disney is going to quietly continue making more changes and cuts to its programs and policies involving DEI, to keep itself out of the crosshairs of the government. 

What do you think of this situation involving Disney and its DEI policies? Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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