Equity Activists Outraged at Disney, Netflix for Forcing DEI Chiefs Out

"It was a PR moment, corporate blackface, I told people at the time, white guilt isn’t going to last."

Yael Halon, Fox News, July 11, 2023

Diversity activists are accusing the entertainment industry of “corporate blackface” and running out of “White guilt” after a number of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) executives at top entertainment and media companies suddenly stepped down or were forced out of their roles.

Between June 20 and July 3, at least five executives overseeing DEI initiatives at leading entertainment companies including Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, left their posts. All the outgoing execs are Black women.

An LA Times story published Tuesday linked the high-profile exits to the backlash against “wokeness” by conservative politics and pundits, as many speculate whether the job changes are a result of the growing pushback to the left’s diversity push.

The story, titled “High-profile exits spark fears that Hollywood diversity pledges are just ‘PR,’ focuses its ire on the entertainment industry, citing a number of outraged equity activists who accused Hollywood of making insincere commitments to diversity and racial justice programs for “PR” purposes after the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020..........To Read More.....

California Black Caucus Calls on Studios to Explain Sudden Departures of Multiple Black Female Executives in Hollywood - Clayton Davis, Variety, July 13, 2023 - A group of state legislators representing the California Legislative Black Caucus are calling on film studios to meet with them regarding the sudden removal of Black female executives over the past few weeks. A mass exodus of Black women from senior leadership posts — Vernā Myers (Netflix), LaTondra Newton (Disney), Jeanell English (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and Karen Horne and Terra Potts (Warner Bros. Discovery) — has raised questions about the depth of the film and television industry’s commitment to diversifying the top ranks of the entertainment industry...............