NEWS: Disney To Make Changes to DEI Initiative

The Walt Disney Company is making changes to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) Program.

In a note sent to employees, Chief Human Resources Officer, Sonia Coleman, noted that Disney’s DEI efforts will change surrounding performance factors, website updates, employee groups, and streaming disclaimers. These changes come as Disney has also recently quietly removed language regarding DEI in their latest Disney Investor Report.

According to Axios, Disney employees were notified of the DEI changes on Tuesday, February 11th, 2025. These changes come as several Fortune 500 companies have softened or removed DEI language around the time when President Trump ordered the end of DEI for the federal government and its contractors.

According to sources, these changes will impact the disclaimers that are present before several of the original Disney films that were added in 2020. The language in these disclaimers is being updated from “includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures” to “This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.” These warns are present before films like Dumbo and Peter Pan on Disney+. Below is the current disclaimer in full.

Also outlined in the memo sent to Cast Members were the Other Performance Factors (OPFs). In 2025, Disney is going to replace the “Diversity and Inclusion” performance factor previously used to evaluate compensation tied to executives with a new OPF called “Talent Strategy.” This new factor does feature old concepts from the previous one but it “is more focused on how values drive business success,” according to Axios.

In addition to the new OPFs, Disney is reportedly removing the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, along with its website, which launched in 2021. This program highlighted current storytelling and transparent acknowledgment of the past as ways they can work to create a new, “reimagined” future. The site was previously replaced in December by a new hub on the corporate website and internal website alike.

The changes will also impact Employee Groups. The Disney company has changed its Business Employee Resource Groups to Belonging Employee Resource Groups. This change began last year as a way to highlight the focus on these groups to make the community and workplace experience stronger for employees.

Disney is not the first company to make changes to their DEI program in the last month or so. The company follows companies like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Meta, Ford, and others changing or ending their diversity programs altogether. With the current political climate changes, several companies are making these changes, sometimes silently.

Disney has also been under fire with the changes to their Disability Access Service, better known as DAS, which has led to a class action lawsuit being filed against Disney. The lawsuit was filed against the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Inspire Health Alliance in the state of California due to the changes that were made to DAS at both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort.

At the time of writing, Disney has not commented on the lawsuit or the changes to the DEI program. It’s important to note there is no regulatory requirement that says companies need to disclose their DEI programs. Keep following AllEars for more Disney news and updates.

Disney Quietly Removes DEI Language from Investor Reports

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