I was curious so I found the article:
https://insidethemagic.net/2024/06/disney-executive-caught-saying-company-wont-hire-white-men-rl1/
The quote is exactly what normal people assume it is, out of context and not the entire quote.
Twentieth Century Television Senior Vice President Michael Giordano was caught on a hidden video saying that Disney explicitly does not hire “white men” for specific roles.
For specific roles. That’s pretty fcking obvious. You’re not going to hire a white man to play the little mermaid.
So, you’re saying they’re sexist and racist, and we should all be enraged and immediately donate to our favourite bigots?
I’m buying a ton of Disney stuff right now to throw on the bonfire tonight.
There are valid reasons for hating on Disney though… like what they’ve done to Star Wars.
Ironically if they did hire a white man to play The Little Mermaid, the hard right nutjobs would be screaming that it was part of a “woke trans agenda” to normalize crossdressing and eliminate the traditional American male from society lol
I mean, the little mermaid should be a danish woman. Like thats where the tale comes from. if they want a diverse movie, why not use a tale from somewhere that isnt europe?
Did you also know there’s no talking crab in the original story by Hans Christian Andersen? Since we’re being faithful to the original.
Personally, I would love to see the little mermaid played by a big, burly man.
You’re not going to hire a white man to play the little mermaid.
Don’t you tell me what to do.
There’s no way we’re hiring a white man for this role. They’d be very careful how they’d message that to agents.
Furthering that, they use the word agent. Specifically referring actors.
You’re not going to hire a white man to play the little mermaid.
I don’t know, genderswapping the roles doesn’t seem that far fetched for Disney
As much as I dislike Disney as a company that does sound interesting… really actually brings up so many new possibilities to revisit the classics!
Disney the company being evil doesn’t mean the folks that work on their products are too
They already remade Little Mermaid too recently. Terry Crews as Rapunzel, though, is still on the table.
The original 20 minute video in the article makes it clear he’s talking about job roles, and mentions writers a few times (admittedly not close enough to draw an 100% certain link). I don’t think it’s enough to discredit this just based on the assumption that he’s talking about actors or that there isn’t enough context. Obviously it’s vague enough that we can’t draw any solid conclusions, so I agree with you there.
The main reason I think this is bullshit is that the guy’s testimony isn’t credible for two main reasons:
- The guy was recently passed up for promotion, and blames it on being white and male
- The interviewer is posing as a romantically interested date and asking plenty of leading questions, the guy is at least partially telling her what she wants to hear
These two points, regardless of how true his story is, give him an ulterior motive for embellishing the story and exaggerating facts, which ultimately means we can’t trust this.
I’d like to see a full investigation, as with any accusation of discrimination. But we all know that when nothing turns up, it wouldn’t shut the right wingers up
