Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Disney's Acquiescence to Trump Signals a Shift in the Culture Wars?

Over the weekend came the news that ABC News had decided (surprisingly) to settle Trump’s defamation litigation against the network. Disney additionally released a statement expressing “regret” for anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air claim that Trump was found liable in court for “rape.” 

Experts on media law told The New York Times that traditionally media outlets fight suits harder than ABC had chosen to do.  ABC's decision is in line with recent media outlets capitulating to the Orange Jesus.  Last month, the L.A. Times, along with The Washington Post (owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos), both spiked endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the election.  

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and X’s Elon Musk have also publicly praised Trump’s win (Musk having  spent millions to help engineer it), raising serious concerns about the impartiality of the platforms the men own.   For his part, Trump has now threatened future defamation lawsuits against the media. Among his targets are The Des Moines Register, “60 Minutes,” reporter Bob Woodward, and the Pulitzer Prizes in retaliation for reporting by The Washington Post and New York on Russia’s role in attempting to influence the 2016 election.

ABC's settlement with Trump could only have been with Disney chief Bob Iger’s consent, and that we might be entering a new era at Disney-- one where the company’s social activism gets tampered down for a more populist approach to creative content. This is evidenced by new reporting that Disney's Pixar removed a transgender character’s storyline from their upcoming “Win or Lose” animated film.

A spokesperson for Disney confirmed that the “Win or Lose” story arc was removed, saying "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline." This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, as earlier this year Iger said that he wanted to “quiet things down” at Disney “after years of culture wars.” This seemed to be in reference to the company having been accused of promoting a “woke agenda” in their movies. 

 

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