Here are your FOX Business Flash top headlines for March 25th.
The LGBTQ backlash against Disney over its response to Florida’s parental rights law could cloud Oscar night, which is already showing a downward trend in ratings.
The 94th Academy Awards will air Sunday night on ABC and will be hosted by Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes. It comes amid simmering tensions at Disney after its CEO, Bob Chapek, condemned the Republican-led Florida Education Parental Rights Act – dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by Democrats – which bans school employees , Teaching “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade.
Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, during the Avengers Campus Grand Opening Ceremony at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California June 2, 2021. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images/Getty Images )
Chapek first spoke out against the law on March 7, claiming it “could be used to target gay, lesbian, non-binary and transgender children and families,” and he also announced a hiatus on political donations in Florida and vowed Disney would contribute millions of dollars more to LGBTQ causes.
DISNEY STAFF GO OUT TO CALL FOR MORE LGBTQ SUPPORT
Critics, including Disney employees, slammed Chapek for saying it was too little, too late as the bill passed the Florida legislature and headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.
A group of Disney employees staged a strike at locations across the country last week, urging the company to do more to protect LGBTQ people. The group released a list of demands it made on the company, ordering Disney to indefinitely halt all campaign contributions to politicians who voted in favor of the law, halt all investments in Florida until the law is repealed, and make “significant contributions” to human rights organizations afford and expand the company’s LGBTQ content.
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol of The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York December 14, 2017. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid / Reuters Photos)
Actor Oscar Isaac, who stars in Disney’s Marvel’s “Moon Knight,” spoke out against the bill on Thursday, urging Disney to “act as vigorously as possible” about it.
“It’s an absolutely ridiculous law, it’s insane, it’s insane, and I hope Disney as a company takes as strong a stand against this idea as possible,” Isaac said. “It’s amazing that this even exists in this country.”
On March 9, two days after Chapek spoke out against Disney, LGBTQ employees at Pixar Animation Studios sent a statement to Disney executives alleging that the company had actively censored “apparent gay affection” in films.
According to Variety, Pixar’s next feature film, Lightyear, had a kiss between two female characters cut from the film. The kiss was reinstated in the film last week amid the larger Florida law controversy, Variety reported.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also publicly rejected a $5 million donation from Disney “until we see they build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure dangerous proposals, like Florida’s Don’t Say Gay or Trans Law, no dangerous laws will be implemented and if they are, work to get them off the books.”
Disney cast member Nicholas Maldonado protests his company’s stance on LGBTQ issues while participating in a staff strike at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on March 22, 2022 (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP Newsroom)
Disney+ issued a statement last week, saying in part that the streaming service “stands by our LGBTQIA+ employees, colleagues, families, storytellers and fans, and we all uphold laws that protect the basic human rights of people in the LGBTQIA+ community.” strongly denounce – especially laws that target and harm young people and their families.”
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The backlash could sour the Oscar show, which is already “on life support,” entertainment and IP attorney Tom Lallas, who represented the late Marvel legend Stan Lee before his death in 2018, told Fox News Digital.
Last year there were 9.85 million viewers, less than half the previous low and a whopping sixth as many as almost 20 years ago.
Disney did not respond to Fox Business’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Julius Young and Breck Dumas contributed to this report.