At Disney’s last shareholder meeting the big issue was a sad girl scout who couldn’t see Raya And The Last Dragon with her troop because their local theater hadn’t accepted Disney’s stiff rental terms to show the film.
At the 2022 meet, which unspools at 1 pm ET Wed., CEO Bob Chapek arrives with a bigger controversy on his hands — the maelstrom surrounding his perceived late and weak-kneed response to Florida legislation critics are calling the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
Social media has been buzzing with discontent from in and outside the company with hastags #DisneySayGay, #saygaydisney and #DisneyDoBetter, accelerating since a statement by Chapek yesterday declined to condemn the bill, which would effectively ban discussion of the LGBTQ+ community and “sexual orientation or gender identity” in the state’s public schools from kindergarten to 3rd grade.
Instead, the CEO promised the company will have “a more fulsome conversation about this” at a company-wide summit planned for April, by which time the proposal may have been signed into law by Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Chapek’s comments, in a memo to staff, came after days of protestors at Walt Disney World, Disney scion Abigail Disney, and others asking the company to take a stand.
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who bid shareholders adieu at the last annual meeting, tweeted that the bill, “if passed, will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.” President Joe Biden called the bill “hateful.” (Iger stepped down from his role as executive chairman at the end of 2021.)
“His customers are children. This bill harms children in ways that will damage many for life. @Disney should never be a company that doesn’t stand up for the safety and support of all children. They certainly should never financially support those who attack children like this,” tweeted Jud Apatow.
Disney’s political donations, including in Florida, are bipartisan. Chapek said the company’s new corporate affairs chief Geoff Morrell will be reassessing advocacy strategies, including political giving.
“Don’t Say Gay” overshadowed another big gripe of Disney, which is also likely to surface tomorrow – the price of enjoying Disney theme parks since they reopened. The company still offers a basic ticket with price unchanged but peak periods are blacked out and there are new tiers of additional services for guests who pay more.
CFO Christine McCarthy said yesterday at a media conference defended the tiers. “Some people have more time than they do money, and some have more money than they do time.”
Stockholders at the annual meeting will vote to approve the company’s board of directors, including Chapek; to approve executive compensation (an advisory, or nonbinding, vote); and to weigh in on the usual proposals by investors seeking more transparency. This year, these include requests for an annual report disclosing lobbying policies and activities; a diligence report evaluating human rights impacts; a report on median and adjusted pay gaps across race and gender; a workplace non-discrimination audit and report; and a request to amend the company’s governing documents to lower the stock ownership threshold to call a special meeting of shareholders.
Disney’s annual meetings are often good corporate theater – like the one in 2004 where Roy Disney led a revolt and Michael Eisner was ousted from the board, and subsequently from his perch as chief executive.
Disney has a very broad retail investor base, one of the few stocks that traditionally parents and grandparents have bought for their kids and grandkids. In pre-pandemic days it wasn’t unusual for the annual event to be populated with children and families making a vacation of it. Tomorrow’s meeting is virtual due to lingering Covid, so is bit easier for the company to control. Instead of lining up in the aisle at actual microphones to make a point, shareholders get into an online queue.
Disney shares dipped today more than the overall market but stocks have been extremely volatile across the board as the brutal war in Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on Russia have unfolded. Disney was the first Hollywood studio to announce it was pulling its film releases from Russia.
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