Disney ditches trigger warnings in major reversal of diversity, equity and inclusion policies

Disney’s The Jungle Book was slapped with a racism warning amid criticisms that King Louie, the jazz-singing orangutan, was intended as a racist caricature of African Americans. Photo / Walt Disney Company

The entertainment giant has removed disclaimers on beloved classics in a major shift.

Disney has scrapped its trigger warnings for children’s cartoons such as Dumbo in a bonfire of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The entertainment giant is removing disclaimers on beloved classics such as Peter Pan and The Jungle Book which warned viewers the films promoted racism and contained “harmful” stereotypes.

Disney has announced it will abandon a series of DEI policies, in keeping with a broader movement among Fortune 500 companies.

It marks a major shift by Disney, which has previously been sued by shareholders for what they claimed was its “woke” agenda, and publicly criticised prominent Republican politicians.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the company announced that it would flag “negative depictions” in films on its Disney+ streaming platform, some of which date from more than 80 years ago.

Peter Pan included a trigger warning about its depiction of Native Americans. Photo / Walt Disney Company

“These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” the company wrote on a webpage, which has since been deleted but was widely reported at the time.

Peter Pan, released in 1953, included a trigger warning that its depiction of Native Americans “neither reflects the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions”.

The Jungle Book (1968) was slapped with a racism warning amid criticisms that King Louie, the jazz-singing orangutan, was intended as a racist caricature of African Americans.

Viewers were also warned that the crows in Dumbo (1941) “ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations” while in The Aristocats (1970) the Siamese cat Shun Gon was “depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples”.

Disney will now run a shortened description in the “about” sections of old programmes which states: “This programme is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions,” sources told Axios.

Sonia Coleman, Disney’s chief human resources officer, said the company would scrap a series of DEI initiatives in a note to employees seen by the news outlet.

Its “diversity and talent” metric has been replaced by a new “talent strategy”, which is said to be more focused on how values drive business success.

Coleman also said that the “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative, which was used to highlight stories and talent from under-represented communities, was abolished in December.

The crows from Disney’s Dumbo. Photo / Walt Disney Company

Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has sought to tone down its political image since returning to the company in 2022 after a two-year absence.

In 2023, he told shareholders that he wanted the company to be “entertainment-driven” instead of “agenda-driven”.

Nevertheless, the following year Disney was sued by the conservative organisation America First Legal, staffed by allies of Donald Trump, which claimed that the entertainment giant had hurt its bottom line by pushing “anti-White” and “woke” content.

In 2022, Disney found itself drawn into a war with Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, when it declared its opposition to his “Don’t Say Gay” bill banning lessons on sexual orientation.

In response, the Republican revoked the Disney’s self-governing powers at the Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, which exempted it from state rules and gave it a special tax status.

The company subsequently sued Mr DeSantis, claiming it was being punished for airing its opposition to his policies. It settled the case in March last year.

Disney is also the owner of ABC News, which was the subject of a months-long lawsuit by Trump in 2024 after anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed the US president had been found liable for rape in a civil case.

Iger reportedly decided to settle the dispute in December, with the network agreeing to pay US$15 million ($26.6m) to Trump and publishing an apology on its website.

The move is said to have blindsided Stephanopoulos and ignited claims that the Disney boss was trying to protect his access to the White House.