A leaked Disney email about a recent employee event reportedly revealed the company has quietly reworked its approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), axing the term entirely for the first time since 2019.
Disney kicked off its “Global Belonging Week” for employees, which included a series of livestream talks “designed to empower and inspire,” referencing “belonging” and “inclusion” without mentioning “diversity,” “equity,” or “DEI,” according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider.
Moreover, the entertainment company removed the divisive terms “diversity,” “inclusion,” “diversity, equity and inclusion,” and “DEI” from its annual business report, and only mentioned “equity” when speaking in a financial context.
The 2025 report is noticeably different from Disney’s 2024 SEC filing, which featured a dedicated section on DEI.
“Our DEI objectives are to build and sustain teams that reflect the life experiences of our audiences, while employing and supporting a diverse array of voices in our creative and production teams,” the 2024 report read.
Earlier this year, the Walt Disney Company dropped two DEI programs due to pressure from investors, axing its “Reimagine Tomorrow” and “The Disney Look.”
Mita Mallick, a workplace strategist and the author of “Reimagine Inclusion,” recently noted that the word choice is a sign of the times, Business Insider reported.
“Out of all the words, ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’ are words that people are staying away from,” Mallick said, adding that the verbiage fits into a broader trend of companies highlighting words like “belonging” and “culture,” which she claimed are seen as less political than “DEI.”
As Breitbart News reported, Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” summit fell under fire in 2022, after leaked video showed top-level employees openly discussing the company’s push to include more LGBTQ+ content in its ever-growing library, with one executive touting her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”
Notably, Disney’s new word choice comes as its fellow entertainment companies also scale back their DEI language.
As Breitbart News reported, Paramount’s DEI-related policies have been rolled back or eliminated entirely following President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the company is facing a discrimination lawsuit brought by a former executive who said he was fired for thinking “old” and being white.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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