The pinnacle of the Federal Communications Fee ordered an investigation into Walt Disney Co. and its ABC community over their range, fairness and inclusion practices, broadening his examination of media and telecom firms for perceived discriminatory biases.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr directed the company’s Enforcement Bureau to “make sure that Disney and ABC haven’t been violating FCC equal employment alternative laws by selling invidious types of DEI discrimination.”
Carr particularly known as out insurance policies at Disney together with its “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative designed to advance its DEI mission and inclusion requirements throughout ABC that require “50% of standard and recurring characters” be drawn from “underrepresented teams,” in line with a letter Carr wrote to Disney Chief Government Officer Bob Iger and posted on X on March 28.
“Disney began out a century in the past as an iconic American firm,” Carr wrote. “However then one thing modified. Disney has now been embroiled in rounds of controversy surrounding its DEI insurance policies.”
Since being appointed by President Donald Trump earlier this 12 months, Carr has despatched comparable letters to Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. He not too long ago informed Bloomberg that an organization’s DEI practices would have an effect on its possibilities of receiving merger approval.
Carr famous that Disney has not too long ago walked again a few of its DEI initiatives however mentioned “important issues stay.” Earlier this 12 months Disney mentioned it will finish the Reimagine Tomorrow program that Carr known as out. The corporate can also be eradicating range from the standards for figuring out supervisor compensation.
“We’re reviewing the Federal Communications Fee’s letter, and we look ahead to partaking with the fee to reply its questions,” a spokesperson for Disney mentioned.
Disney’s trendy remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hit theaters earlier this month below a deluge of criticism, together with over casting an actress of Colombian heritage because the title character and the re-imagining of the seven dwarfs.
Photograph: Brendan Carr, commissioner on the Federal Communications Fee (FCC), speaks throughout a summit in Washington, DC on Feb. 27, 2025. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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