Not content with losing billions in revenue, releasing a string of leftist box-office flops, and observing a nosediving stock price, the Walt Disney Co. continues to joust with Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As Tampa Free Press reported, in court records filed on Monday, Disney claimed DeSantis and the Republicans in the Legislature would come after other companies that supported a “disfavored viewpoint” — such as happened to Disney after it interjected itself into the debate over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law.
The 2022 law banned school districts and classroom teachers from implementing lesson plans based on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3. The law was amended this year to encompass all grades.
Consequently, DeSantis and lawmakers stripped Disney of its special home-rule district and state-granted tax privileges.
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Praises House Republicans Showing “Sound Judgment” On Israel Aid
“If the line is not drawn here, there is no line at all,” Disney argued Monday.
Yet as the conservative website Townhall.com noted on Tuesday, there is another way:
Don’t go woke.
Townhall columnist Brad Slager noted that just two years ago Netflix faced a “severe” public backlash for releasing a video by stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle, who criticized the LGBTQ community.
Instead of adopting the path of Disney and other left-leaning companies, Netflix “executives decided not to bend the knee,” Slger observed
“The results have been illuminating,” he added.
“Chapelle’s show was warmly received, for starters, becoming a massive hit for the platform. Then (the) company demonstrably was not going to cater to the cranks and then not long after most of the vocal employees demurred, with some even electing to leave the job,” Slager noted.
“Soon after the company posted an employment notice that basically said they were accepting of all types, but also cautioning that free speech would be adhered to, and if you were prone to be offended, then possibly the company was not a good fit.”
Netflix then ditched a project by lefty favorite Meghan Markle, and “muted” promotion of productions involving Barack and Michelle Obama.
“This new ‘un-woke’ approach has brought success,” Slager argued.
“Netflix recently posted quarterly reports that were glowing, with a better-than-expected rise in subscriptions, and the stock soared with double-digit increases on Wall Street,” Slager wrote. “This is in defiance of the other streaming services bleeding out on a regular basis.”
Disney+, he added, has been losing subscribers for consecutive quarters, while others such as Comcast’s Peacock and Paramount+, continue to amass major losses.
Netflix added almost 6 million new subscribers in the second quarter, and posted $200 million more than expected in operating income.
“At some point you expect a dawning to come over [Disney CEO] Bob Iger,” Slager concluded.
“Instead of telling your audience what you think they need to hear, it might actually be good business to give the people what they want.”
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