Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek claims the company is not left or right leaning, and that everyone agrees Disney has the power “to unite us all.” But Chapek’s claims come after two thirds of Americans say the multimedia company has taken political correctness too far.
“The fact is that we have a tremendous opportunity now to bring this country back together and unite people — one thing we can all agree on is the power of Disney to unite us all,” Chapek said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, according to a report by Variety.
While on the shareholders call, Chapek was also asked about the company’s decision to fire actress and The Mandalorian star Gina Carano after she shared a social media post that critics say compared the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the current U.S. political climate.
While Chapek , who took over as Disney chief executive last February, did not directly address the Carano situation, he did push back against any suggestion of an ideological bias, claiming, “I don’t really see Disney as characterizing itself as right-leaning or left-leaning.”
Chapek said Disney was interested in standing for “values that are universal,” such as “decency” and “integrity,” as well as in making “content that is reflective of the rich diversity of the world that we live in.”
While Chapek believes that Disney can “unite us all,” and that the company’s values are “universal,” the vast majority of Americans say the company is too woke.
A recent poll conducted by Survey Monkey revealed that “nearly two-thirds of Americans agree that companies like Disney have taken political correctness too far” — 65 percent to 34 percent. Ninety percent of Republicans hold that view, as well as 60 percent of independent voters, and 47 percent of Democrats.
Some 84 percent of Americans surveyed also oppose Disney’s decision to film Mulan in a region of China with Uyghur concentration camps.
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