Disney announces plans to change diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that seem less drastic than others’

Disney has announced plans to change its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The changes, which execs said allow the company to focus more closely on business outcomes and goals, largely appear to be less dramatic than what other major companies have announced. At least some of the updates will affect both the company’s ABC and ESPN properties and their employees.

The company said it will transfer portions of its current “Diversity and Inclusion” performance factor used for executive pay to a new “Talent Strategy” category that will also make more efforts to align these values with business outcomes.

The company shut down its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program and website that aimed to aggregate positive stories from underrepresented groups. Instead, the company has migrated key aspects of this effort to a section of its main corporate website. The company’s internal employee site also received a similar update.

Disney is also renaming its Business Employee Resource Groups to “Belonging Employee Resource Groups.” Work on this change actually began in 2024.

Meanwhile, Axios also reported that Disney sources said the company will update the language on content advisories that appear before select content on streaming. For example, references to “negative depictions” and “mistreatment of animals or cultures” will be replaced with simply “stereotypes and negative depictions” language. Disney did not officially confirm these changes.

Disney appears to be treading carefully on handling the increasingly controversial topic of diversity, equity and inclusion, which has largely been weaponized by the right. The company is likely recalling the debates it stirred up among staffers and the public in 2023 over Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. 

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