Political pundit Dan Bongino says he received a message from a Disney insider who told him the company is tracking the negative feedback they’re receiving from people upset with the company’s response to Florida’s new education law. (Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.)
The law in question makes it illegal for public schools to instruct on gender identity or sexuality with young children in kindergarten through third grade. After it passed, Disney promised to work to repeal it and held an in-house townhall in which an executive producer admitted to having a “no-so-secret gay agenda” and boasted about adding “queer” content to children’s entertainment.
Those actions are sparking angry calls from outraged parents, claims Bongino. “[The insider] is telling me Disney is tracking all of the calls complaining about their support for sexualizing kids in kindergarten,” he said on his podcast Thursday. “The woman told me that the calls are overwhelming.”
A new survey from the Trafalgar group supports the claims of Bongino’s source.
The conservative nonprofit Convention of States commissioned poll of likely voters to find out about their feelings on Disney since leaked videos showed an executive producer mentioning a “not-so-secret gay agenda” and boasted about adding “queer” content to children’s entertainment.
The poll asked likely voters if “news reports [that] reveal Disney is focusing on creating content to expose young children to sexual ideas” made them more or less likely to do business with Disney. Nearly 70 percent of respondents, including about half of Democrats and 73 percent of independents, said they were “less likely.” Only nine percent said it made them more likely to support the company.
A majority of every group (78% of Republicans, 72% of independents, and 59% of Democrats) said that the comments Disney staffers made in the leaked videos make them more likely to look for alternative sources of family-friendly entertainment.
Mouse House heirs aren’t doing much to restore the company’s public image in the eyes of parents wary of the company’s stance on LGBT content in children’s entertainment. This week, Disney heir Charlee Corra, whose stepfather was the grandson of company co-founder Roy O. Disney, came out as transgender and expressed regret for not doing more to fight Florida’s bill before it passed. Meanwhile, Walt Disney’s granddaughter, Abigail, penned an op-ed for The Washington Post calling on the company to become more political.
The public backlash appears to be having a negative impact on the company’s stock price as well. Shares are down about 26 percent in the last year. That has some shareholder’s questioning whether it’s Disney’s business to get involved in politics.
Economist and Disney shareholder Ray Keating told Fox News on April 2 that Disney CEO Bob Chapek needs to “get back to business” and “stop wasting shareholders’ money on political crusades.”
Keating later added, “We all have the right to have our voices heard on issues, but not on the shareholders’ dime.”