Criticism of the Walt Disney Company

Michael Eisner

In 1977, Roy E. Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney, resigned as an executive due to disagreements with his colleagues' decisions at the time. As he claimed later, "I just felt creatively the company was not going anywhere interesting. It was very stifling."[2] However, he retained a seat on the board of directors. His resignation from the board in 1984, which occurred in the midst of a corporate takeover battle, was the beginning of a series of developments that led to the replacement of company president and CEO Ronald William Miller (married to Walt's daughter Diane Marie Disney) by Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, & Jeffrey Katzenberg. Roy soon returned to the company as vice-chairman of the board of directors and head of the animation department.

Eisner has been criticized for his management style. The book DisneyWar by James B. Stewart is an exposé of Eisner's 20-year tenure as chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company. Stewart describes some of the following:

In 2003, Roy resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation, accusing Eisner of micromanagement, flops with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning The Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box-office movie flops starting in the year 2000.

On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. Disney's board then gave the chairmanship position to George J. Mitchell. However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive.

On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired. On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. Eisner's replacement was his longtime assistant, Bob Iger.

• The struggle to get Who Framed Roger Rabbit made in time and on budget despite the ambitions of Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams to make the film bigger and bolder
• Eisner's tension with Frank Wells before Wells' death
• Eisner's friendship-turned-rivalry with Jeffrey Katzenberg
• Eisner's tension with Michael Ovitz during Ovitz's short-lived presidency
• The purchase of the ABC Family channel and its content and the fallout resulting from Disney's inability to revive it
• Hilary Duff's decision to quit the Disney Channel because of low salary
• Financing of the film Fahrenheit 9/11
• Pixar's decision not to renew its relationship with Disney
• The hostile takeover attempt by Comcast.

Bob Iger

In reaction to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said the actors' demands were "not realistic", adding they are "adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing". Iger has been criticized for these remarks in light of his contract with Disney allowing him to earn as much as $27 million for 2023 between his salary and bonuses.[3] SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher called Iger's remarks "repugnant" and "tone deaf."[4]

2023 Gaza War

In October 2023, The Walt Disney Company pledged $2 million for humanitarian relief efforts in Israel, following a series of attacks by the militant group Hamas. Disney allocated half of this donation to Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service, and the other half to various non-profit organizations supporting children in Israel. Disney CEO Bob Iger condemned the attacks and described the donation as a means of supporting innocent people in Israel, particularly children.[5] In addition to the $2 million, Disney implemented a matching gift program for employees up to $25,000.[6] The move sparked backlash from Muslim audiences and critics, who argued that there is a lack of parity and concern given to Palestinians in the conflict, especially given the death of thousands of Palestinians including children.[7]

Filming in Xinjiang

In 2020, Disney was criticised for filming in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, where human rights abuses are taking place, and thanking the publicity department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Chinese Communist Party Committee and the public security bureau in Turpan in the credits of the live-action remake of Mulan.[8][9] In a statement released, Disney said it was not responsible for the credit and attributed it to a 3rd party involved in the filming.[10] The public security bureau in Turpan was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List in October 2019.[11]

Miramax and its handling of foreign films

Formerly a subsidiary of Disney from 1993 to 2010, Miramax came under criticism for its editing, dubbing, and replacing the soundtracks of various foreign films that it released. One notable example is Iron Monkey which, though released subtitled, had its subtitles altered to remove the political context of the story; had scenes trimmed and changed for violence and pacing; and had the soundtrack changed, removing the famous Wong Fei Hung theme. Other films that they have altered in this way include Shaolin Soccer; Farewell My Concubine (theatrical release); The Thief and the Cobbler; and Jet Li's Fist of Legend.

Peter Biskind's book Down and Dirty Pictures details many of the Weinsteins' dishonest dealings with filmmakers.

Under the Weinsteins, Miramax had a history of buying the rights to Asian films, only to sit on them without releasing them for years. One example of this is Hero, a 2002 Chinese martial arts film. It languished in Miramax's vaults for two years before it was salvaged with the intervention of Quentin Tarantino, the Government of China and even Disney's executives. Another example is Tears of the Black Tiger, a Thai film originally released in 2000. After changing the film's ending, Tears of the Black Tiger sat in Miramax's vaults for five years until its rights were purchased by Magnolia Pictures in 2006, where the film was released unedited.

The potential editing of Princess Mononoke(1997) by Miramax has been the subject of rumor.[12] The Guardian Xan Brooks reported in 2005 that the film's director Hayao Miyazaki was rumored to have sent the then–head of Miramax Harvey Weinstein a samurai sword in the mail with the attached message "No cuts." In response, Miyazaki stated that "Actually, my producer did that." He also claimed that he "defeated" Weinstein's attempts to shorten the film's length.[13] The claim has subsequently appeared in other media coverage.[12] The media scholar Emma Pett wrote in 2018 that Miyazaki was "complicit in the construction of his auteur image" and the perpetuation of the rumor by these responses.[12] The studio executive Steve Alpert wrote in his 2020 memoir that the producer Toshio Suzuki, after procuring a replica sword from a shop in Tokyo, presented it to Weinstein at a meeting in New York. He then "shouted in English and in a loud voice: 'Mononoke-hime, no cut![14]

One reason for the delays and non-releases of films was an accounting scheme that the Weinsteins used to shift potential money-losing films to future fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney,[15] while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.[16]

Defenders of the company point out that, prior to Miramax, most of the films purchased by the company would have had little to no chance of achieving U.S. distribution other than by very small distributors with minimal marketing expertise and funds. They also state that the purpose of the company's aggressive re-editing technique was always to try to help the films find a broader American audience than they might otherwise find. "I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein said in an interview, "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."[17]

Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic, less audience-friendly films, especially when directors refuse to re-cut them to make them less challenging. Dead Man, which director Jim Jarmusch refused to re-cut, got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film.[18][19]

Miramax was parodied in the Kevin Smith film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), in which the studio attempted to adapt Jay and Silent Bob's comic book characters, Bluntman and Chronic, into a movie, thus resulting in the duo traveling to Hollywood to stop them from making the movie. According to Kevin Smith, this film is a direct response to the controversy surrounding his previous film Dogma.

Using Generative A.I. and VFX techniques

In 2023, it was revealed that the series opening credits sequence of the Marvel Studios series Secret Invasion was created using generative artificial intelligence to showcase "the shapeshifting tone of the series" according to Ali Selim.[20] Reception to the sequence was met with backlash and disappointment from audiences and the animation industry. Major criticism includes that the argument was especially timely, since the Writers Guild of America voted to strike after failed negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which included language about protecting writers against the use of AI in the writing process. Over the past eight weeks, the use of AI to replace laborers has come to the forefront of many discussions about the strike.[21][22] Storyboard artists and animators on the series expressed disappointment on the opening sequence.[23]

In the wake of Marvel Studios firing executive vice president of film production Victoria Alonso for breach of contract in March 2023, criticism from VFX workers were noted,[24] who had raised complaints of Marvel's "demanding post-production schedules". Alonso was described by some as a "kingmaker",[24][25] and "challenging to work with", with Chris Lee at Vulture reporting that Alonso was "singularly responsible for Marvel's toxic work environment" with VFX workers.[26][25] Alonso reportedly took days off to produce Argentina, 1985 instead of her post-production commitments for the various Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, which in turn resulted in the need to delay several projects in 2022 and 2023.[27] However, Alonso was also described as the "epitome of professional" and supportive on set, with Joanna Robinson of The Ringer describing the reports as a "gross mischaracterization" and the opposite of Alonso's work.[24][28] Following Alonso's firing, visual effects vendors for the various MCU projects were working with producer Jen Underdahl.[29] In August 2023, more than 50 of Marvel's on-set VFX production crew filed a petition for an election to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees with the National Labor Relations Board.[30]

During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, it was revealed that several background actors for several Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Lucasfilm and Disney Branded Television productions were scanned to train a generative artificial intelligence to use their image on several episodes or films without their consent or additional payment. Alexandria Rubalcaba, told NPR that she, and other background actors, stated this was the case for those who worked on WandaVision and expressed worry that "AI is eventually going to weed out background actors."[31] It was later asserted on social media that A.I. was used on a video clip from Disney Channel Original Movie Prom Pact, with users calling it "creepy", makes the film look like "hot garbage", and that AI is being used rather than paying workers "a living wage." However, The Hollywood Reporter later reported that the video clip did not use actors scanned by AI techniques but that the extras were created through other techniques using VFX, and stated that these "digital extras involved the work of CG artists" instead but was different from other films, as the digital extras were "more easily recognizable as inhuman.".[32][33][34]

A similar incident arose in May 2025, when Disney and Epic Games (which The Walt Disney Company owns a 9% in ownership stakes) announced that the video game Fortnite would bring Darth Vader as a non-playable character, with James Earl Jones' voice being reconstructed using generative AI with permission by his estate to serve as an AI chatbot.[35][36] Prior to this, in 2022, Jones signed a deal with Lucasfilm, which allowed the company to utilize generative AI in future projects to recreate his voice.[37] This technology was first used in the Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi.[38]

The announcement of the Darth Vader AI chatbot was met with backlash from people who felt that while the appropriate permissions were obtained from the estates of anyone whose likeness is being used, it still felt creepy doing this one year after Jones' death. Similar comparisons were made to the digital reconstruction of Ian Holm[39][40] in Alien: Romulus.[41] Two days after the character was added, it was reported that several players in the game made the character say racial and homophobic slurs using Jones' voice. Shortly after clips of the chatbot saying such words went viral on social media, Epic Games pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite that restricts the responses it can say.[42] On May 19, 2025, SAG-AFTRA filed a unfair labor charge against Epic Games and Llama Productions for infringing on the union’s right to negotiate major changes to its collective bargaining agreement.[43]

In November 2025 during The Walt Disney Company's Q4, Earnings Call, Bob Iger revealed that the company is working on user generated A.I. experiences and features for Disney+.[44][45][46] The announcement was met with backlash in several social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.[47] The Owl House creator Dana Terrace spoke against Iger's announcement, calling him and the board of Disney executives "vultures" and to "pick up a pencil or die". Terrace would urge fans of her series to pirate the show as well to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions stating "I don't care".[48][49]

In December 11, 2025, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company inked a three-year licensing deal with Sora (OpenAI) for short AI generated videos on Disney+.[50] The announcement was met with concern and skepticism across social media platforms. The following day SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America and The Animation Guild sent an open letter to The Walt Disney Company stating their concerns about the licensing deal with WAG mentioning that the deal is a ‘Theft of Our Work". SAG-AFTRA would mention that they "will closely monitor the deal and its implementation to ensure compliance".[51][52][53] The following week Polygon will make a reference to the deal in their review of the short film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey" produced by Paramount Pictures, Point Grey Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, calling the short "timely" and "yet, as Mickey Mouse seems content to accelerate AI’s oncoming judgement day, another group of legacy characters are taking a katana-pointed stand in opposition".[54]

In February 3, 2026 during an interview with ABC News, Josh D'Amaro who succeeded Bob Iger as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company on March 18, 2026, mentioned that AI will not replace human creativity during his tenure at the company, stating, “The reason this company is so special is because of how creative we are, and the human beings that are generating that creativity. In my mind, that never gets replaced."[55]

The following month, D'Amaro stated that "We’ll continue to develop and embrace new technologies to empower our storytellers—but never at the expense of our characters and worlds, our creative partners, or the trust people place in us. We have the most creative, most passionate, dedicated people—and it’s because of our people that we’ll continue to create stories and experiences that our fans carry with them for a lifetime."[56]

On March 24, 2026, The Walt Disney Company announced that they will be exiting their licensing deal with Open AI following the company's announcement that they will be shuttering their text-to-video app Sora.[57]

American Broadcasting Company

ABC Daytime

ABC Daytime scrapped a One Life to Live storyline which was to depict a school shooting rampage on the day the Virginia Tech massacre occurred on April 16, 2007.[58] In August 2009, Frons announced that the production of All My Children would move from New York City to Los Angeles by the end of the year.[59][60]

The View

In June 2006, host Star Jones prematurely announced her firing from The View, surprising her cohosts.[61] In 2008, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Barbara Walters told Oprah she felt "betrayed" by the announcement, and revealed Jones's gastric bypass surgery.[62]

Also in 2006, host Rosie O'Donnell spoke in "mock Chinese", prompting complaints from UNITY: Journalists of Color and New York City councilman John C. Liu.[63]

In 2013, notorious anti-vaccine propagandist Jenny McCarthy was brought on to the panel. Critics called the decision "irresponsible".[64]

In an ongoing controversy discussed since September 2025, the FCC announced February 6, 2026, that they are investigating The View over their adherence to new regulations from shifting equal-time laws, changed to favour Republican Party candidates by Donald Trump.[65][66]

ABC News

On April 30, 2004, Nightline host Ted Koppel read the names of the members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in Iraq. This prompted controversy from conservatives, who believed that Koppel was making a political statement, and from Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which felt that ABC was undermining the Iraq war effort. Others, including a The Washington Post television columnist, thought it was a ratings stunt for sweeps, and indeed Nightline was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other Nightline programs that week. Sinclair stations did not air the program. Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004, reading the names of service members killed in Afghanistan, and on May 30, 2005, reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, Sinclair stations aired the program as scheduled.

In the wake of the job cuts, a significant controversy erupted online in May 2010 after it was announced the former VP of news coverage, Mimi Gurbst, was leaving the network to become a guidance counselor.[67] A story in the New York Observer reported that Gurbst was a "cherished" mentor inside the news division.[68] Reporters who closely follow TV news observed that a large number of current and former ABC News staffers went online to vigorously respond that Gurbst had helped perpetuate a negative culture with ABC News.[69][70]

The Path to 9/11

ABC aired the controversial two-part miniseries The Path to 9/11 in the United States on September 10, 2006, at 8 p.m. EDT and September 11, 2006, at 8 p.m. EDT. The extensive pre-broadcast controversy over the film has included disputes over the accuracy of its dramatization of key events, as well as calls by historians and from former Clinton and Bush administration officials for ABC to re-edit part of the film or to not broadcast it at all. According to the official statement released by ABC on September 7, 2006, the film is a dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 Commission Report, other published materials, and personal interviews.[71]

The main source of the controversy stems from portions of the film concerned with the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Critics say that certain dramatized scenes tend to suggest that blame for the events that took place on September 11, 2001, lies with Clinton and his cabinet. One example cited is a scene in which then-National Security Advisor Sandy Berger does not approve of the order to take out a surrounded Osama bin Laden, tells the squad in Afghanistan that they will have to do the job without official authorization and then hangs up the phone. According to Sandy Berger and others – including conservative author and Clinton critic Richard Miniter – this never happened.[72] Screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh has now admitted that the abrupt hang-up was not in the script and was improvised.[73]

Alexis Debat

Alexis Debat, a consultant for ABC for years and also a writer for The National Interest, resigned from ABC in June 2007 after the broadcasting company discovered that he did not have a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne as he pretended.[74] Furthermore, in September 2007, the French news media Rue 89 revealed that he had made at least two bogus interviews, one of Barack Obama and another of Alan Greenspan, both published in the French magazine Politique internationale.[75][76] This in turn also led to his resignation from The National Interest.[74] Debat had specialized in reports on terrorism and national security for the past six years (writing, for example, on the Jundallah Balochi and Sunni organization).[74][77]

ABC contract dispute affecting WABC-TV and WPVI

On March 2, 2010, WABC-TV in New York, along with Philadelphia sister station WPVI (carried in Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties), stated that they would pull their programming from Cablevision on March 7, 2010 (at midnight), unless a new payment structure was implemented for its network programming. Cablevision responded by citing WABC-TV and WPVI's free, over-the-air accessibility. Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler stated, "It is not fair for ABC-Disney to hold Cablevision customers hostage by forcing them to pay what amounts to a new TV tax."[78] Also that day, Cablevision announced through e-mail that their entire film catalog of on-demand movies would be available without charge until midnight that evening as an apology to their customers.[79]

Suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

On September 17, 2025, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and its corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, suspended production of the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely, following criticism from conservatives and public pressure from Trump administration officials over the host and comedian's monologue commentary about President Donald Trump and his supporters' reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The network's suspension of Kimmel sparked widespread backlash from political leaders and commentators, entertainers, entertainment industry unions, constitutional scholars and the public as well as boycotts against Disney/ABC and broadcast station owners Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group (whose respective decisions to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their ABC-affiliated stations over his monologue remarks prompted the network's own decision to suspend the program), and sparked debate about the erosion of freedom of speech in the United States amid calls by prominent conservatives to impose retaliatory and disciplinary actions against people celebrating, justifying, or trivializing Kirk's death or encourage further political violence.

There have been protests outside of Disney's offices both in Los Angeles and New York,[80] with calls for boycotting Disney and cancelling streaming services have spread across social media, while Google searches for "cancel Disney Plus" and "cancel Hulu" have spiked. On Instagram, posts on the topic have comments about how users want to "stand for something" and "boycott all Disney movies." Multiple Reddit threads about canceling Disney+ have over 1,000 comments.[81][82][83]

Freeform

Fox Family Worldwide Inc. was sold from News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group to Disney for $2.9 billion on October 24, 2001. The sale to Disney also included television channel Fox Kids and Saban Entertainment (renamed BVS Entertainment). The entire network was officially renamed ABC Family on November 10, 2001.[84][85][86][87]

The sale to Disney was considered one of the largest mistakes or problems occurring during the tenure of Michael Eisner. The failure was primarily due to the acquisition being done by the strategic planning department of Disney, without consulting anyone at ABC. The original plan was to use the channel to essentially show re-runs of ABC programming, but this plan was completely impossible since ABC had no syndication rights to the majority of their own programs. During this time, the network did air same-season repeats of Alias, Less Than Perfect, Life with Bonnie, and The Bachelor, almost all of which were Touchstone Television productions (The Bachelor is distributed by Time Warner's Telepictures). But in trying to change the focus of the channel, Disney also canceled several Fox Family series, like State of Grace, and cut back on the network's TV movies, which were among the few programs Fox Family was doing well with. The ratings tumbled further as the network became dependent on syndicated reruns and no original programs (save for original wrap-around segments around Bachelor repeats, and children's programming).[88]

The next major plan was to reposition the channel to market it to college students, young women, or to a more hip audience under the name XYZ, a reverse reference to ABC. Disney soon found that the channel could never be renamed as such. The original sale from CBN to Fox/Saban contained a (now disputed) stipulation that the channel contains the word "Family" in the name forever, no matter who owns the network. To create XYZ, the Family Channel would have had to cease to exist – terminating all existing cable TV contracts – and XYZ would have to be created as a completely new network. Cable companies would not be obligated to put XYZ in the spot vacated by the Family Channel. ABC scrapped the idea after discovering this clause.[89]

The name was revisited at one point in 2003, serving as a program block entitled "The XYZ", showing programs and movies aimed at the above groups. The network was also used as a buffer to burn off failed ABC series, such as All American Girl, which featured former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.[90]

Since 2006, the critics have gone after programming on ABC Family. Most critics of the network feel it has gone from a family friendly to "too risqué", and shows like Greek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager are far too racy for "family viewers". Critics feel that the executives at ABC Family are only after viewership numbers and are unconcerned about showing younger generations in questionable scenarios in series and films. The main focus of criticism is on teenage pregnancy or underage drinking.[91]

Disney Channel

Some critics disapprove of the Disney Channel marketing strategy led by Anne Sweeney,[92] president of the Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.[93] Under Sweeney, the Disney Channel's programming was geared mainly towards preteen and teenage girls, with a decrease in animated programming.[94] Criticism was also aimed at removing almost all Walt-era and pre-1990s material from the channel in 2002 with the removal of the late-night "Vault Disney" block devoted to this material, which used to make up the majority of the channel's programming since its inception in 1983.[95][96] In 2008, Sweeney explained that Disney Channel, resulting from its multi-platform marketing strategy using television and music, would become "the major profit driver for the [Walt Disney] Company."[96]

The channel has also pulled (and sometimes re-shot) episodes that have featured subject matter deemed inappropriate for its target audience, due either to humor or to timing of real-life events.

• In November 2008, the episode "No Sugar, Sugar" (Hannah Montana), in which Mitchel Musso's character, Oliver Oken, is revealed to have Type 1 diabetes, was pulled before its broadcast, due to parent complaints about its portrayal of diabetics and sugar intake.[97] The episode was later revised with new scenes filmed after consulting with the diabetes research-funding organization JDRF; the updated version was aired during the program's third season on September 20, 2009 titled "Uptight (Oliver's Alright)".
• In December 2011, Disney Channel pulled episodes of two of its original series, due to complaints on Twitter from Demi Lovato about their portrayal of eating disorders. Pulled episodes included "Party It Up" (Shake It Up) and "Colbie Caillat" (So Random!).[98][99][100][101] The former episode eventually began airing reruns regularly again on Disney Channel by removing dialogue deemed insensitive.
• In May 2013, Disney Channel pulled "Quitting Cold Koala" (Jessie) due to parental concerns over a scene in which a character's gluten-free diet leads to ridicule.[102]
• In December, 2017, Disney XD redubbed Louis C.K. lines from "Weirdmaggedon" (Gravity Falls) due the comedian admitting sexual misconduct following revelations published in The New York Times. C.K's lines where replaced by series creator Alex Hirsch according to a Disney Channel spokesperson.[103]
• In December 2018, Disney Channel removed all Andi Mack episodes featuring the actor Stoney Westmoreland from circulation for sexually encountering a minor.[104]
• In July, 2024, multiple changes were made for the animated series Primos to emphasize that the show was set in Los Angeles and not in Latin America after its opening sequence received criticism on social media, largely from Mexicans and other Latin-American communities.[105][106]

Brian Peck backlash

Disney Channel faced backlash for hiring Brian Peck on the series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody after he had been convicted in 2004 for sexually abusing a minor in 2001, who has since been revealed to be former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell. Disney Channel executives fired Peck after learning about his conviction and Peck's voice lines and on-screen credits on the series were replaced or removed. Disney Channel representatives have stated that Peck was never on set nor interacted with the show's cast or crew.[107]

ESPN

ESPN has also been accused of overpaying for sports broadcasting rights, and that Wall Street analysts have raised concerns that this could be a major drain on Disney as a whole, since the amount of money that can be recuperated from retransmission consent fees and advertising is limited; Disney still profits from the ESPN division but as of 2015 was cutting the network's higher-priced content to ensure long-term profitability.[108] In October 2015, ESPN laid off about 300 employees, citing the rights costs combined with the increasing trend of cord-cutting.[109]

In November 2019, ESPN's owner The Walt Disney Company launched the streaming service called Disney+. ESPN heavily promoted the Disney+ launch, leading to accusations that the network was sacrificing its journalistic integrity.[110][111] Examples cited by critics included a Simpsons-themed edition of SportsCenter "Top 10", as well as NFL reporter Adam Schefter tweeting that Disney+ "will change lives". Writing in Slate, Laura Wagner[112] said that the "tongue bath" for Disney+ "represents a new inflection point in ESPN's decline from journalistic institution to entertainment company". Wagner added "This clumsy marketing blitz is an embarrassing exercise that turns ostensible reporters into stooges. It's also a stark example of just how flimsy ESPN's editorial vision has become." Meanwhile, Kelly McBride of the nonprofit journalism organization the Poynter Institute in an interview with The Washington Post[113] said "You're turning the journalist into a salesperson and asking them to upsell the product. That's not the relationship you want the journalist to have with the audience member. You want that relationship to be about trust in the journalist's expertise."

Hulu

Kardashian-Roblox scandal

The series premiere of The Kardashians, which debuted on April 14, 2022, titled "Burn Them All to the F*cking Ground", led to a public feud between Kim Kardashian and Roblox. In the episode, Kim's son Saint West shows his mother an experience on the platform from a tablet that depicts an image of Kim crying across the skybox and baseplate. She claimed, however, that the person who uploaded the experience had also obtained footage of her and Ray J's sex tape, and that she reacted by crying and claiming to later sue the company. Despite this allegation, the incident has been seen by many as a hoax, and was deceptively edited and staged as a way to cause uproar and false drama.[114]

A spokesperson for Roblox responded by saying "The referenced video was never available on our platform. We have strict moderation and policies to protect our community, including zero tolerance for sexual content of any kind which violates our community rules." and "The text reference to the tape that got around our filters was quickly taken down and fortunately visible only to an extremely small number of people on the platform. We also swiftly took down the associated experience and banned the community developer involved with the incident."[115] An individual close to the Kardashian family denied accusations of faking the event.[116][117]

Disney+

Criticism over removing titles from streaming

Several other Disney+ titles that had been earmarked for removal like A Spark Story, Marvel's MPower and Marvel's Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever stayed due a similar backlash.[118][119][120]

Disneyland Resort

Ban on same-sex dancing

Between 1957, when the park first allowed dancing, and 1985, Disneyland only allowed pairs of men and women to dance on stage, barring single and group dancers (with the exception of children) as well as same-sex couples.[121] Disney claimed the policy had been put in place for crowd control and to avoid harassment of women, but also stated that it was "because some patrons might have found dance partners of the same sex offensive."[122][123] Teenage gay rights activist Andrew Ross Exler (now having the legal mononame Crusader) decided to dance with his friend Shawn Elliott on "Date Night," September 13, 1980, to protest the policy after his lesbian roommate was told she couldn't dance with other girls. The security guards responded to their "homosexual fast-dancing" by ejecting them from the park after telling Exler and Elliott, "This is a family park," and "There is no room for alternative lifestyles here."

Exler, who had notified the media before Date Night, sued Disney in court for discrimination under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and won the suit in 1984; however, Disney later claimed that the ruling only applied to Exler and Elliott and continued to enforce the ban, particularly for same-sex "slow" or "touch" dancing, resulting in another lawsuit later in the decade that forced Disney to rescind the unwritten slow-dancing policy in 1989.[124][121]

Al Lutz's Disneyland reports

Al Lutz, who has written about Disney since the 1990s, often writes about a perceived decline in value and quality at Disney's theme parks, chiefly Disneyland and its neighboring park Disney California Adventure that opened in 2001.[125] Much of his criticism was directed at Paul Pressler, the one-time president of Disneyland who later was named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Cynthia Harriss, Pressler's successor as Disneyland's president. From 1996–2002, Lutz maintained a set of sarcastic Web pages called Promote Paul Pressler!,[126] with the stated goal of "getting current Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler promoted to a new job somewhere else within The Walt Disney Company!"

Lutz's July 2006 report on the alleged antics of Lindsay Lohan during a private party held at Disneyland for her 20th birthday[127] drew a rebuke from a representative for the actress, who said that reports of bad behavior were "complete bull".[128] This report brought Lutz's website, MiceAge, briefly into the spotlight, and established Lutz as a Disney watchdog in the mainstream media.

Disney California Adventure

Disney California Adventure, originally named Disney's California Adventure Park until a name change in June 2010, was expected to draw large crowds when it opened in 2001. A January 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times article titled "The most Jam-Packed Theme Park on Earth?" stated "Senior Disney officials acknowledge that there will be days when California Adventure will have to turn patrons away, particularly in the first weeks after the park opens, during spring break and again in the summer." The actual attendance was not close to the size that Disney expected for the park back in 2001.[129] The reasons for this have been speculated. They may include bad word-of-mouth from early visitors discouraged future visitors, stating the park was lacking in Disney-quality attractions,[130] and an estimated price tag of $600 million, with the park criticized for being built "on the cheap", with a small number of attractions and minimal theming.[131] Otherwise, many guests complained that a single day admission ticket to Disney's California Adventure cost the same as a single day admission ticket to Disneyland, yet contained fewer attractions, shows, and entertainment.[132]

Disney's chief executive officer, Bob Iger, went on record during the company's annual stockholder meeting on March 10, 2006, when someone asked about a potential third park being built in Anaheim. "We're still working to assure the second gate is successful", Iger said, referring to California Adventure. "In the spirit of candor, we have been challenged."[133]

On October 17, 2007, The Walt Disney Company announced a multi-year, $1.1 billion expansion plan for Disney's California Adventure Park.[134][135] Plans for the renovation and expansion were put on display for park visitors inside the Blue Sky Cellar at the Golden Vine Winery. Disney listened to the public and several of the attractions which drew criticism from the public were removed in the multi-year, multibillion-dollar redesign and expansion of Disney's California Adventure. Other rides were redesigned or replaced with a larger focus on Disney characters and stories.

On May 28, 2010, it was announced through the Disney Parks Blog that the park would also be receiving a name change, to Disney California Adventure, as well as a new logo. The new name took effect on June 11, 2010, appearing on park maps and banners, but it was first used in a commercial promoting Disney's World of Color a few days prior. World of Color premiered on June 11, 2010, as part of Disney's Summer Nighttastic.[136]

Walt Disney World Resort

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Even in the planning stages, various Florida based animal rights groups and PETA did not like the idea of Disney creating a theme park where animals were held in captivity. The groups protested, and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park.[137] A few weeks before the park opened, a number of animals died due to accidents. The United States Department of Agriculture viewed most of the cases and found no violations of animal-welfare regulations.[138] On opening day, the Orange County Sheriff's office sent about 150 deputies in fear that there might be a large protest, but only 24 protesters showed up. The protest lasted two hours, and there were no arrests.[139]

One year after the park opened and before the Disney World Millennium Celebration, The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained that a New Millennium's Eve fireworks show could upset the animals. A USDA inspector came to the park to find no problems with launching low-noise fireworks half a mile away.[140]

Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex

A former baseball umpire and an architect alleged that they approached The Walt Disney Company in 1987 with plans for a sports complex and that Wide World of Sports, which opened 10 years later, was heavily based on their designs. Disney claimed that, while the designs had some similarities, the complex was also similar to numerous other sporting facilities, and the concept of a sports park was too generic for any one group to claim ownership. The two men, represented in part by noted attorney Johnnie Cochran, sued Disney in Orange County civil court. In August 2000, a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs with damages in the amount of $240 million, a fraction of the $1.5 billion sought.[141] Disney appealed the judgment, and settled out of court in September 2002 for undisclosed terms.[142]

Walt Disney World College Program

The Walt Disney World College Program is a U.S. national internship program operated by The Walt Disney Company, located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Walt Disney World College Program recruits students (18 years and older) and all majors for a semester-long paid internship program working at the Walt Disney World Resort. Critics argue that Disney is using the program as a source of cheap labor, as interns do the same work as veteran employees, but at a significantly lower pay rate.[143] In late 2007, a permanent Cast Member ran for president of the local union in Orlando. Part of his platform intended to get rid of the Disney College Program, claiming that the program "imports thousands of low-wage earners every year to work for Disney, depressing the local employment market and keeping wages down." Disney responded that the program is beneficial in the recruitment of cast members and that 8,000 workers out of 62,000 do not greatly impact operations.[144] It has been criticized also for its lack of union representation and denial of insurance benefits by the company.

Criticism for Muppet*Vision 3D Closure

In August 2024, Disney Experiences announced at D23 that a new land based on the Monsters Inc. franchise was in the works for Disney's Hollywood Studios, the announcement was met with speculation where the new area was going to be with the Muppet Courtyard area being a key location.[145][146] In November 2024, Disney officially announced that Muppet*Vision 3D at Hollywood Studios would close alongside the rest of Grand Avenue to make way for the Monsters, Inc. themed area, stating that they were "having creative conversations with The Jim Henson Company to explore ways to preserve the film and other parts of the experience for fans to enjoy in the future."[147] In January 2025, Disney announced that Muppet*Vision 3D would close on June 8, 2025.[148]

The announcement of shutting down Muppet*Vision 3D was heavily criticized by fans and historians within the theme park community specially key member figures like Kevin Perjurer from the Defunctland series mentioning that the shut down was "heartbreaking" as the ride had many contributions within the theme park industry as well being one of the last projects that Jim Henson did before dying.[149] In May 2025, Walt Disney World confirmed that they would be recording the show to aid with preservation purposes. Cast members were allowed to sign up to be part of the taped audience, which took place on May 14.[150]

In February, 2026, The Wrap announced that the former attraction would be coming to Apple Vision Pro and other VR headsets.[151] Brian Henson would explain that they did a thorough job capturing the show for the VR experience.[152]

Miscellaneous

In 2017, The Walt Disney Company and two of its subsidiaries reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $3.8M to 16,339 employees of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc and Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. After Disney had started charging employees for their costumes, the income of many employees fell below the federal minimum wage. The resorts were also found to be in violation of overtime and payroll recordkeeping regulations.[153]

Wrongful death lawsuit

In October 2023, a patron of Walt Disney World Resort had a severe allergic reaction and died after eating at a restaurant on the Florida property. Her husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit in February 2024, alleging negligence as the couple had been assured her order would be free of allergens. Attorneys for Disney sought to dismiss the case, arguing that the patron had agreed to settle any disputes with arbitration when he signed up for a free trial of Disney+ and agreed to its terms and conditions.[154][155] In August 2024, a Disney representative stated that as the resort restaurant "is neither owned nor operated by Disney", the Walt Disney Company should not be included in the lawsuit.[156] On August 19, 2024, Josh D'Amaro, Chairman of Disney Experiences announced that Disney would "waive [their] right to arbitration", stating that, “At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations."[157]

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Overcrowding problems

Just before the grand opening, the park was criticized for overestimating the daily capacity limit.[158] The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on September 4, 2005, when 30,000 locals visited the park. This event turned out to be a disaster, because there were too many guests for the park to accommodate. Wait times at fast food outlets were at least 45 minutes in length, and wait times at rides were two hours in length.

During the Chinese New Year 2006, many visitors arrived at the park in the morning bearing valid tickets but were refused entry, because the park was already at capacity. Disgruntled visitors attempted to force their way into the park or gain access by climbing over the barrier gates.[159] Disneyland management was forced to revise their ticketing policy and designated future periods close to Chinese public holidays as 'special days' during which admission would only be allowed through a date-specific ticket.

Food safety panel

Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, who were asked by Disney staff to take off their badges and caps in order to enter the park, left park visitors feeling very uneasy. The officers investigated a food-poisoning case in the park's restaurants.[160] The chairman of Legco's food Safety panel, Fred Li, described the incident as shocking and called on the director of the department to take follow-up action against Disney. Hong Kong Disneyland says that what happened was inappropriate and has apologized for the incident. The Secretary for Justice has since said that the government did not have enough evidence to make a prosecution, thus dropping the case.

Fingerprinting

As at other Disney theme parks, visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland have their finger biometrics scanned at the entry gate. Visitors are not warned of the policy beforehand. Scanning is done of all visitors older than 10 years of age, and is used to associate ticket media with the person using it. The company claims that "the 50 sample points from the surface of a guest's finger ... do not contain sufficient information to recreate a fingerprint image." Nonetheless, forensic specialists note that the data collected are more than adequate to establish a positive identification.[161]

Shark fin soup controversy

Disney originally planned to serve shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, at wedding banquets.[162] Animal rights groups protested in June 2005, citing the declining shark population in global waters and the cruel methods sometimes used of cutting the fin and discarding live sharks back into the sea.

At first, Disney removed shark fin soup from its menu, but said that it would still offer the soup if their clients insisted on having it served at their wedding. They said they would distribute leaflets about shark conservation in order to discourage the choice.[163]

However, after constant and continuous pressure from both environmental groups and animal welfare groups,[164] shareholders concerned about the company's image, Disney announced on June 24, 2005, that shark fin soup will not be served at all, because, according to their press release, "After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmentally sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove shark fin soup from our wedding banquet menu".[165]

Other controversies

Fish around Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation.[166]

Disney's PhotoPass

Disney's PhotoPass is a professional photography service offered at Disney theme parks, water parks, and resorts. Photographers positioned at locations in the theme parks, dining events at the resorts, and at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney are linked to a free card containing a unique serial number. Guests can view or purchase PhotoPass pictures at locations in the parks (generally near the park entrance) or online by registering the card's number.[167][168]

Customers have complained about the difference in advertised prices, particularly of Photo CD products, and the actual cost. Disney has responded that advertised specials apply only to products purchased at the parks and do not apply to the website.[169]

Disney Princess

On December 24, 2006, Peggy Orenstein published "What's Wrong With Cinderella?" in The New York Times. In her article, Orenstein discussed her concerns about the effects of princess figures on young girls. Orenstein used the Disney Princesses specifically to present many of her points. Orenstein also noted the pervasive nature of princess-related merchandise and that every facet of play has its princess equivalent.[170]

Other sources have also voiced concern that the franchise could possibly give young girls the wrong message. However, other parents who have young daughters say that they would eventually grow out of this phase.[171]

Marvel Comics

Page 16 of Captain America #602 (March 2010) depicted an anti-tax protest march in Idaho in which one participant held a sign reading "Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You", with a caption containing the words of an off-screen African-American superhero, the Falcon, telling Captain America, "I don't exactly see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks."[172][173][174] The cartoon drew the condemnation of Michael Johns, a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition.[173]

Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada characterized the sign as inadvertent and as "something that we need to apologize for and own up to."[175] Quesada explained that with a printing deadline looming, the comic's editor noticed that the protest group's signs on the original art were empty, and the editor "asked the letterer on the book to just fudge in some quick signs. The letterer in his rush ... looked on the 'net and started pulling slogans from actual signs", including a "Tea Bag" sign.

Following the issue's printing, Marvel staff "caught the mistake" and "spoke to the letterer, [who] was mortified at his mistake and was truly sorry as he had no political agenda." Quesada said Marvel "removed the sign from the art files so that it no longer appears in future reprints of the title or collections. So, while the crowd protesting has nothing to do with the villains in the story, we in no way meant to say they were associated with the Tea Party movement."[175]

Transition of ownership regarding Star Wars

On December 21, 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm (and as a result, the rights to the Star Wars franchise; Skywalker Sound; and Industrial Light and Magic) as a subsidiary for the price of $4 billion.[176] Lucasfilm and Star Wars in general were evaluated to decide upon how each area was to be approached.

After Dark Horse Comics lost the rights to create Star Wars comics, Marvel Comics gained the rights as a subsidiary in the area of expertise.[177] With the elimination of the LucasArts developing arm, EA Games is being entrusted to make Star Wars video games in the future.[178] The well-regarded animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was cancelled a few seasons from the end of its run,[179] in order to shift the series' team to Star Wars Rebels, a new animated TV series created for Disney XD, set approximately five years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.[180] They eventually revived Clone Wars for a final season.[179]

Furthermore, Tor.com asserted that book consumers were not given the option of two universes to read from, the first of which is what many of them have been reading about for over 40 years and have grown to love and the second of which is Disney's attempt to unify things under one controllable banner;[181] leaving fans of these books to only read new entries in the Unified Canon, and if they wish to see the continued growth of the Star Wars universe, the previous universe is now stuck in limbo.

On June 20, 2017, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, left the production of the film five weeks before filming ended. Lord and Miller cited "creative differences" for their reason to part ways with the film. Many compared this to Edgar Wright stepping down as director of Ant-Man due to creative differences with Marvel Studios.[182] Three months later, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker director Colin Trevorrow stepped down as director under similar circumstances and was replaced with Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams.[183]

In November 2020, Alan Dean Foster, an author who wrote several novelizations of Star Wars, said that Disney was refusing to pay royalties on the novels, or even recognize that contractual obligations existed. Disney was censured by the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Mary Robinette Kowal, as well as other prominent authors.[184][185][186]

Criticism for Blue Sky Studios shut-down

Ownership of Blue Sky Studios was assumed by The Walt Disney Company as part of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Two years later on February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was closing Blue Sky Studios that April after 35 years of existence. A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic's continued economic impact on all of the company's businesses, it was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio. This included the studio's film library and intellectual properties retained by Disney. In addition, production on the film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona was canceled with other future films in development or early in production.

On April 11, 2022, it was announced that Annapurna Pictures had picked up Nimona earlier in the year, and would be releasing it on Netflix in 2023. DNEG Animation was announced as the project's animation partner, and the film would end up being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[202]

The decision to close down Blue Sky was heavily criticized. Critics accused Disney of acquiring a once-competitor animation studio only to shut it down two years later as a way of eliminating their competition. Especially as the majority of the employees were fired without being absorbed into other Disney animation units. Another criticism has revolved around using the Blue Sky Studios IPs and characters for low-budget and poorly reviewed productions like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.[203][204][205]