A recent leaked Disney email reveals that the company has quietly changed its approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, known as DEI. For the first time since 2019, Disney removed any mention of the term DEI from its internal events and its annual business report.
Earlier this month, Disney launched its “Global Belonging Week” for employees. The event featured a series of livestream talks said to be “designed to empower and inspire.” However, according to details from an internal email leaked to Business Insider, the talks focused on “belonging” and “inclusion” but carefully avoided using the words “diversity,” “equity,” or “DEI.”
The 2025 business report also showed a clear shift. Disney eliminated references to “diversity,” “inclusion,” “diversity, equity and inclusion,” and “DEI,” only mentioning “equity” in a financial context. This is a sharp departure from the 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which had a whole section devoted to DEI goals. That report stated, “Our DEI objectives are to build and sustain teams that reflect the life experiences of our audiences, while employing and supporting a diverse array of voices in our creative and production teams.”
Related: Disney’s DEI Disappearing Act: Magic Kingdom Waves Goodbye to Wokeness
This year Disney cut two major DEI programs after investor pressure: its “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative and “The Disney Look” guidelines. The rollback has been noted by workplace strategist Mita Mallick, author of Reimagine Inclusion. She told Business Insider, “Out of all the words, ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’ are words that people are staying away from.” She added that this change fits a broader corporate trend focused on terms like “belonging” and “culture,” which are seen as less politically charged than DEI.
Disney’s shift in language follows controversy over its “Reimagine Tomorrow” summit in 2022. Leaked videos from that event showed executives openly discussing the company’s attempt to increase LGBTQ+ content in its expanding library, with one executive boasting about her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”
This change at Disney is not happening in isolation. Other entertainment companies are also scaling back their public use of DEI language. Whether this is a permanent reversal or just a temporary retreat remains to be seen, but it appears that the long awaited cultural rollback is in full swing. For Disney’s part, they still have a very long way to go.
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