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FCC chair opens investigation into Disney and ABC over DEI practices
The Walt Disney Co. logo appears on a screen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 8, 2017.
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Richard Drew
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Brendan Carr, who was picked by President Trump to chair the Federal Communications Commission, said he's ordering an investigation into the Walt Disney Co. and its ABC television network over concerns that they are "promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination," referring to diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
In a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger, Carr said the FCC's Enforcement Bureau will review whether Disney or ABC have violated any FCC equal employment opportunity regulations. He added that the probe will apply to both past and current 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," Carr wrote on Thursday.
The inquiry comes after Disney scaled back its diversity efforts, either by dropping certain initiatives or softening language around DEI.
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Among the changes, Disney+ shortened its warning about racist stereotypes on certain classic movies, like Aladdin and The Jungle Book, removing a longer message written in 2020 that also expressed the company's commitment to an inclusive community.
Last month, Disney also told employees it would replace "Diversity & Inclusion" for "Talent Strategy" as a performance factor to evaluate executive compensation, Axios reported.
In the letter on Thursday, Carr said although he acknowledged Disney's recent efforts, he wanted to make sure they were not just surface-level, adding that "all discriminatory initiatives" needed to come to an end.
"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," he said.
Carr took issue with Disney's Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, which he accused of being a "mechanism for advancing its DEI mission." The initiative's social media described itself as a platform meant to amplify "stories and storytellers that inspire a more inclusive world." While some of its social media accounts remain active, the Reimagine Tomorrow website itself was taken down last month, according to archived versions on the Internet Archive. Axios first reported the website deletion.
Carr also cited a 2020 memo outlining ABC's updated inclusion standards, which required at least 50% of regular and recurring characters must be drawn from "underrepresented groups." The same applied for actors and writing staff, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In a statement, Disney said: "We are reviewing the Federal Communications Commission's letter, and we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions."
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