Disney held their shareholder meeting on March 9th, 2022, via live-stream. And while we excepted to hear about the financial condition of the company and growth of Disney+, that was largely overlooked as Bob Chapek focused instead on the parks and upcoming entertainment releases. The meeting also contained major votes on policy and on Bob Chapek (and all other board members) for his seat on the board. But the only thing anyone seemed to want to talk about was the public relations mess Bob Chapek created with his seeming support of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, then quiet walk-back, and final rejection of the legislation. Let’s take a look at a rollercoaster meeting.
The meeting came at a time that the company and its CEO are under intense scrutiny for falling public opinion of the parks due to increasing prices, overcrowding, and upcharge schemes such as Disney Genie. In addition, Disney’s financial support of anti-gay politicians in Florida has drawn the ire of Disney employees, customers, and international media. In recent days, major media such as CNN, New York Post, Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, NPR, Vanity Fair, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, etc. have run scathing articles about the Disney Company and/or Bob Chapek for a variety of reasons.
This Washington Post article was shared by many park fans: Disney’s $5,000 Star Wars hotel and line-cutting fees: Some fans say the ‘magic’s gone’ – Frustrated fans are voicing disenchantment over price hikes and fees on services that were once free
A Change.org petition to remove Bob Chapek is one of the most active on the site of all time.
Disney Shareholder Proposals
The meeting started with proposals from major shareholders.
One board member proposed that Disney be more transparent on their lobbying efforts and who they are giving money to. Although Disney has the information readily available, they will not share that information with shareholders. Of course Disney, not wanting people to know what they are doing behind the scenes to manipulate politics and trade associations, recommend that shareholders vote against the proposal. The proposal failed.
A proposal to allow shareholders with 10% or more of Disney stock to call a special meeting followed. The current threshold is 50%, which ensures that special meetings can’t be called if there is a matter of urgent importance to shareholders. This provision would allow shareholders to let Disney know if they are concerned about the company’s (or CEO’s) performance. Disney also recommend that shareholders vote against this provision. The proposal failed.
A proposal for Disney to disclose racial and gender pay-gaps was also proposed. Disney recommend that this obviously important proposal be voted down as well. See a trend here?! Thankfully, this Proposal was approved.
Additionally, ALL board members were reelected, including Bob Chapek, without a breakdown on the amount of votes for each member. So, it’s unclear if there’s a movement to replace Bob Chapek or not.
This section of the meeting, where Disney rejected most attempts to make it more accountable and less culturally insensitive was followed by an uplifting video montage where they proclaim that the “Sky is the limit.” Bob Chapek then took to a blue screen to explain why everything is great and the Disney theme parks are the “most magical places on earth.”
Bob Chapek spoke about Encanto as a true cultural phenomenon and a new “franchise.” They then showed a montage of clips from the film with people talking about why the film is so important to them. Inclusion and representation were very much the theme of today’s event. It’s clear Disney is in panic-mode.
A long list of upcoming films everyone has already heard of followed. It was nice to see a first trailer for the upcoming Star Wars series, Obi-Wan:
And there are three upcoming female-led Marvel pics: Ms. Marvel, She-HULK, and Moon Knight.
Bob also made some questionable comments regarding the parks. While he exclaimed obvious financial success that the parks made all-time record profits in the last quarter, he also made sweeping statements that it also means guests love what they experienced (which is not what we are all hearing from actual guests). He said that guests love Genie and the new park changes. He also claimed that the response from guests to the Star Wars Star Cruiser hotel was fantastic. Such imbalanced statements lead us to question the truthfulness of some of the statements Bob makes at these meetings. It’s particularly concerning at a shareholder meeting, where there is a legal obligation not to make misleading statements.
Bob also answered a question from a fan about the delayed Mary Poppins and Quin-Jet rides at EPCOT and DCA respectively. He didn’t say that they were canceled, but he did mention them both as being “delayed.” Both of these rides are very much needed. One reason Avengers Campus feels so dull is the lack of the major E-Ticket in the land (Spider-man is the lesser and cheaper of the two originally proposed rides).
We got to see some EPCOT Guardians of the Galaxy concept art:
And he teased the new TRON coaster at the Magic Kingdom (but without anything other than the same old concept art):
Chapek also claimed that none of these outstanding experiences would be possible without the cast. But no mention that up to 80% of cast in some departments (such as Imagineering and Consumer Products) have quit rather than be forced to move to Florida due to the mandatory relocation of most Parks, Experiences and Products employees, and that cast are overworked, underpaid, and many intensely upset with current Disney management. In an Orwellian moment, a video clip of cast members saying how magic Disney was then played.
CANCELED – Disney Parks Experiences & Products NOT Relocating to Orlando!
Chapek spoke proudly about the combination of cutting edge technology and Disney storytelling. Something that we suspect is a root cause of much guest frustration as visitors are forced to schedule park visits in advance, arrange for dining in advance, consult a Genie about ride and restaurant availability, and pay extra if they don’t want to wait in every lengthening standby lines. To many fans, the Disney experience is under assault. Gone are the days of actually enjoying a vacation due to all the hyper-planning now required.
Bloomberg: Disney Is Driving Parkgoers Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bonkers
The Big Surprise – Chapek Makes The Meeting About His Own Failings
Then Chapek surprised us with a new corporate mission “To inspire a better world through the power of stories.” 
“What we stand for as a company matters. And one of those things is inclusivity.”
FINALLY, Bob takes a public step toward undoing the great harm he created by remaining silent on the Disney Company’s passive financial support of anti-gay legislation.
Bob said that he was opposed to the anti-gay bill in Florida but didn’t speak on it at first. He was hopeful that his relationship with legislators would result in a better outcome. He called Florida Governor De Santis this morning and the Governor has agreed to meet with Disney. We just hope those meetings come in tine to block this legislation. But we suspect this may just be lip service to get Disney out of a difficult situation as Bob seemed quick to mention the “Weaponization” of social positions in the past as a reason not to get involved.
We’d like to remind Mr. Chapek that it doesn’t matter if someone gets upset that you are doing the right thing. If it is important enough for your company to take an internal position on an issue, you need to be willing to defend it externally as well as the CEO of an influential company. That’s what LEADERSHIP is. We’ll give you an example, here’s what former Disney CEO Bob Iger had to say about all this:
I’m with the President on this! If passed, this bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy. https://t.co/fJZBzre4yM
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) February 25, 2022
Disney said it was signing on to the Human Rights Campaign effort to fight anti-LGBTQ+ legislation with a modest $5 million dollar donation (considering the uproar Disney created). UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign promptly REJECTS Disney’s donation until Disney themselves show some leadership on the issue.
Not mentioned on the tightly crafted live-stream was that Disney’s stock price was at a near 52 week low. A third of analysts now list Disney stock as a “hold” instead of a “Buy.” The Board may have been reelected, but this is a financial vote of no-confidence, a very rare situation under the previously stable Iger regime.
To hear Bob Chapek tell the story, everything is great at Disney. But public sentiment, a plummeting share price, and negative media buzz indicates all may not be as well as Disney’s CEO is spinning things. Do you think Disney is on the right track? Let us know!
UPDATED INFORMATION & FALLOUT
Multiple news sources have received a letter written by “The LBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies” that strongly denounces Disney’s stance on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which is currently progressing through the Florida legislature.
Below is the complete text of the letter:
A Statement to Leadership from the LGBTQIA+ Employees of Pixar & Their Allies
We are writing because we are disappointed, hurt, afraid, and angry. In regards to Disney’s financial involvement with legislators behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, we hoped that our company would show up for us. But it didn’t.
Monday’s email, “Our Unwavering Commitment to the LGBTQ+ Community”, rang hollow. It began with the claim that Disney has a long history of supporting the LGBT community, but Disney Parks did not officially host Pride until 2019, in Paris alone. Disney has a history of shutting down fan-created Pride events in the parks, even removing same-sex couples for dancing together in the 1980’s. Additionally, Disney began capitalizing on Pride in 2018 with The Rainbow Mickey Collection, (while de-emphasizing the terms like LGBTQ+ and not even featuring explicitly LGBTQIA+ pieces such as Pride flag pins until 2021). To this end, it feels terrible to be a part of a company that makes money from Pride merch when it chooses to “step back” in times of our greatest need, when our rights are at risk.
The second claim stated that “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds”. However, the very email making this claim opened with a corporate statement regarding the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Eight days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Disney paused the release of theatrical films in Russia and announced “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation.” Following the siege on the capital in 2021, Disney stopped all political donations to members of Congress who had objected to the presidential election results. In 2016, Disney told the state of Georgia: “We will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law” in response to the controversial Religious Liberty bill. By taking a stand, Disney directly affected the legislative outcome in Georgia. It has been proven that Disney’s corporate statements can and do make a difference.
Finally, we come to the push for Content as the answer. We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were. Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it. Beyond the “inspiring content” that we aren’t even allowed to create, we require action.
We are calling on Disney leadership to immediately withdraw all financial support from the legislators behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, to fully denounce this legislation publicly, and to make amends for their financial involvement. While signing on to donate to the HRC is a step in the correct direction, the shareholder meeting on Wednesday made it clear that this is not enough. Throughout the shareholder meeting, Disney did not take a hard stance in support of the LGBTQIA+ community, they instead attempted to placate “both sides” – and did not condemn hateful messages shared during the question and answer portion of the meeting. This is not what it means to “unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.”
Disney taking a stand by honoring their company values has changed the course of legislation in the past. If Disney is true in its values, it will take a decisive public stand against the discriminatory legislation occurring in Florida and offer tangible support for the LGBTQIA+ communities affected by bigoted legislation sweeping the country. Stand against this bill in Florida and against the similar bills in South Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, and Tennessee. Stand against the transphobic legislation in Texas, Iowa, Utah, Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama. Many hateful groups are attempting to eradicate us through legislation – we need you to stand with us entirely, not in empty words.
This matter is not something that can wait until Reimagine Tomorrow in April, or Pride Month in June. This matter needs to be addressed now. This is urgent. 42% of LGBTQIA+ youth seriously considered suicide in 2021, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth, with a large factor being the lack of support that these discriminatory legislations enable. Disney claims to care for the welfare of children, but supporting politicians like this directly hurts one of their most vulnerable audiences. There are lives at stake and Disney’s support could save those lives. “We still have more work to do,” your email said. This is that work.
Signed with Pride,
The LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies
Additionally, HRC rejected Disney’s previously-promised donation, awaiting more substantive performance by the company around the bill.
