Layoffs Hit Media Company

By
Rachel Stevenson
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There’s a certain poetic justice when a company that once symbolized pure, crowd-pleasing entertainment ends up laying off hundreds because it forgot who its audience is. Disney, the once-beloved titan of animated joy and childhood wonder, is now in the headlines not for box office magic but for cutting staff in its film, TV, and finance divisions. And sure, their spokespeople are spinning it as part of a “rapid industry transformation”—translation: we made some really expensive, really bad decisions, and now someone has to pay the price. Spoiler alert: it’s not the executives.

The chorus of “go woke, go broke” is ringing loud and clear, and frankly, it’s not hard to see why. For years, conservatives have been warning that when companies stop focusing on their core products and start pushing lectures disguised as content, people will tune out. And guess what? They did. Americans are voting with their wallets, and Disney is learning the hard way that no amount of corporate virtue-signaling can paper over a $100 million box office flop.

Let’s talk about that Snow White disaster, shall we? A $300 million budget sunk into a movie that managed to rake in a paltry $205.5 million worldwide. And what was supposed to be the “magical” reimagining of a timeless fairy tale? A CGI-laden mess headlined by an actress who used the press tour to trash the source material and roll her eyes at the very idea of a “prince saving the princess.” Call me crazy, but maybe don’t market your children’s film by insulting fairy tales and traditional storytelling. Then again, that would require a shred of self-awareness, something that’s been in short supply at Disney HQ lately.

Oh, and then there’s the reimagining of the dwarfs—which apparently involves removing most of them altogether and replacing them with CGI and a politically correct grab bag of background characters. Bravo. In the name of “inclusion,” they managed to tick off the very community they claimed to be helping. Actors with dwarfism were quick to point out that Disney effectively erased actual roles for real performers in favor of digital diversity. So much for progress.

Now, let’s be fair: not every Disney project has tanked. Lilo & Stitch somehow defied the odds and became a massive hit, pulling in over $600 million. But that’s the exception, not the rule. Most recent releases, especially from the Marvel assembly line, are barely limping across the break-even line. Captain America’s latest outing? More like Captain Meh.

And then there’s Bob Iger, who tried to throw a lifeline at last year’s shareholder meeting by insisting Disney should focus on “entertainment first” and not be “agenda-driven.” Cute line, Bob. But actions speak louder than earnings calls. Disney’s been driving the agenda bus straight into a wall for years, and no amount of shareholder smooth talk can distract from that.

Now they want to cut costs. Layoffs in film, TV, and finance. Hundreds of workers shown the door while the creative direction still seems stuck on cruise control through Wokeville. And the kicker? They still won’t admit that the message is the problem. The layoffs might save some dollars, but they won’t save the brand if Disney refuses to recognize that middle America doesn’t want their kids preached to about gender politics during a two-hour cartoon.

The writing is on the wall, and it’s not graffiti from angry conservatives—it’s the box office, it’s the layoffs, it’s the silence from once-loyal fans. Disney forgot who it was and who it served. Now, they’re facing the consequences. And if this is what “state-of-the-art creativity” looks like, maybe it’s time to go back to crayons and a little common sense.

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