Disney's latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the entertainment giant might be concerned about its place in the culture wars, That Park Place reported.
"Consumers' perceptions of our position on matters of public interest, including our efforts to achieve certain of our environmental and social goals, often differ widely and present risks to our reputation and brands," Disney said in its Form 10K report, published Tuesday.
The filing comes two months after Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors the company will "quiet the noise" in a culture war that has pitted social conservatives against the global media and entertainment conglomerate.
Disney continues to struggle to make its streaming business profitable. Cord-cutting has also taken a toll, with ESPN, owned by Disney, shrinking to 71 million households from 74 million in fiscal 2022.
The entertainment company was thrust at the center of the U.S. culture wars in 2022, when it publicly criticized Florida legislation restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by campaigning against "woke Disney," and working with the state legislature to strip it of self-governing authority over the parks.
Florida and Disney are locked in a legal battle over the formation of the Central Florida Oversight District board, which assumed oversight of development in the nearly 25,000 acres of property in and around Disney's theme parks.
In its 10K filing, Disney said it would need to spend more to address those "challenges."
"New laws and regulations, as well as changes in any of these current laws and regulations or regulator activities in any of these areas, or others, may require us to spend additional amounts to comply with the regulations, or may restrict our ability to offer products and services in ways that are profitable, and create an increasingly unpredictable regulatory landscape," it said.
Disney has also faced social-media backlash from conservative commentators over the casting of Halle Bailey, a Black actress, in the lead role of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid," though the movie ended up making $570 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest grossing film of 2023 so far, according to Boxofficemojo.
Several countries last year blocked the release of the Pixar Animation Studios film "Lightyear," which depicts a same-sex couple sharing a brief kiss.
Source - NEWSMAX/X - Image - Reuters