Disney CEO Bob Chapek caved to leftists and announced that the company is pledging $5 million toward LGBTQ groups in response to a Florida bill that would restrict the teaching of sexuality and transgenderism to kids in kindergarten through third grade.
Chapek said that The Walt Disney Company is pledging $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations advocating for LGBTQ causes, reports Variety.
The moves comes after the Walt Disney Co. faced the wrath of the Alphabet Mafia and their allies in the media and Hollywood who are furious over the company resisting pressure to condemn the Florida bill.
Disney has also been under attack over a report that said the company has given money to all of the bill’s sponsors.
Chapek is now reportedly expected to meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) to discuss the company’s “concerns” with the bill, which has already been passed by the state’s House of Representatives and Senate, and is now on its way to DeSantis’ desk to be signed into law.
“The governor heard our concerns and agreed to meet with me and LGBTQ+ members of our senior team in Florida to discuss the ways to address them,” Chapek said during Disney’s shareholders meeting Wednesday.
“Gov. DeSantis committed to me that he wanted to make sure that this law could not be weaponized in any way by individuals in the state or groups in the state to unduly harm or target gay, lesbian, nonbinary or transgender kids and families,” the Disney CEO added after being asked by a shareholder what he expects from his meeting with DeSantis.
Chapek went on to claim that the Florida governor was “very open” to hearing about how to prevent the law from being “weaponized.”
The Disney CEO added that Disney has “championed underrepresented voices,” and made “meaningful investments” in minority communities, supporting them “with nearly $300 million in charitable giving.”
“What we stand for as a company matters,” he said, adding that one of the company’s “important values” is “inclusivity, which has been a key area of focus for us in recent years and will remain a priority.”
Critics have pushed back on Disney upholding their “values” on political issues they disagree with in the U.S. while kowtowing to and making in concert with the Communist regime in China.
Disney received mass blowback after Ising the movie Mulan’s end credits to thank an official Chinese government security bureau linked to Uyghur concentration camps in China.
Disney
What’s more? A top Disney official went so far as to defend the move. At least eight Uyghur concentration camps are operating in the same Chinese city, whose officials Disney thanked.
During the Wednesday meeting, shareholders voted to approve a proposal “requesting a report on both median and adjusted pay gaps across race and gender,” reports Variety.
Moreover, in the wake of dispute over Disney giving money to all of the bill’s sponsors, Chapek expressed on Monday the company’s “unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ+ community” in a company-wide email obtained by Variety.
“In terms of our communities, we are and will continue to be a leader in supporting organizations that champion diversity,” the memo reads. “In 2021, we provided nearly $3 million to support the work of LGBTQ+ organizations. And, we have a long history of supporting important events like Pride parades.”
“While we have not given money to any politician based on this issue, we have contributed to both Republican and Democrat legislators who have subsequently taken positions on both sides of the legislation,” Chapek added in Monday’s memo.
“I do not want anyone to mistake a lack of statement for a lack of support,” he added. “We all share the same goal of a more tolerant, respectful world. Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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