Hastings, however, didn’t express concern over Iger as a competitor. In a tweet, he made it clear that he thought Iger was better suited for an even bigger job — president of the United States.
Ugh. I had been hoping Iger would run for President. He is amazing.
“Ugh,” tweeted Hastings Monday, “I had been hoping Iger would run for President. He is amazing.”
The dramatic executive reshuffling happened following Disney’s board learning that Chapek’s leadership was driving top-shelf employees away. Despite having said in the past that he wasn’t interested in coming back to the House of Mouse, the 71-year-old Iger evidently changed his mind.
Hastings wasn’t being dramatic regarding the potential for a candidate Iger. As Business Insider reports, Iger first considered running, but his wife discouraged him. It came up again:
He considered running for president for a second time after the 2016 elections, saying that America was “gravely in need of optimism” in the wake of the Trump presidency. Still, he was met with resistance by his family once again and decided against it.
Business Insider notes that Iger would go on to say he was “‘really naive’ about his leadership abilities and chances of winning.”
There might be another reason Hastings wishes Iger wasn’t back at the helm. Disney is officially one of Netflix‘s strongest rivals for streaming audiences. Hastings might consider starting a movement to draft his rival exec into the 2024 race if Iger further strengthens Disney’s hold on the market.
Chris Hemsworth has announced that he will be taking a break from acting after receiving news that he has a heightened genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Hemsworth, 39, discovered this heightened genetic predisposition while undergoing tests for his Disney+ documentary series Limitless, which sees the Thor actor test his body and explore new ways to live longer and healthier.
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Hemsworth told Vanity Fair that the tests confirmed his “biggest fear.” The results weren’t a total surprise for him because the actor’s grandfather is currently being treated for Alzheimer’s.
“It’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation,” Hemsworth said in the interview, clarifying that he hasn’t been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. “It’s not a pre-deterministic gene, but it is a strong indication.”
Hemsworth revealed that he was supposed to learn his genetic test results live on camera while filming Limitless, but one of the doctors on the show, Peter Attia, and series creator Darren Aronofsky, decided to tell him the news privately. Hemsworth was given the option of removing references to Alzheimer’s from the show but he said it was important to keep those parts in to increase awareness about Alzheimer’s prevention.
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“My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatize it, and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy or whatever for entertainment,” he told Vanity Fair.
The Marvel star added that the benefit of knowing about this grim outlook is that he can work to prevent the onset of the disease.
“If you look at Alzheimer’s prevention, the benefit of preventative steps is that it affects the rest of your life,” Hemsworth told Vanity Fair. “It’s all about sleep management, stress management, nutrition, movement, fitness. It’s all kind of the same tools that need to be applied in a consistent way.”
Learning about his Alzheimer’s risk prompted Hemsworth to reflect on his family and career, telling Vanity Fair that he’s worried about missing out on important moments with his children. Hemsworth is married to fellow actor Elsa Pataky, with whom he has three kids.
“Before you know it, they’re 18 and they’ve moved out of the house, and I missed the window,” he said. “It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off. And since we finished the show, I’ve been completing the things I was already contracted to do.”
Hemsworth announced that he will be taking a break from acting after he finishes the press tour for Limitless.
“I’m going home and I’m going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife.”
Hemsworth will be on the silver screen again in George Miller’s new addition to the Mad Max franchise, Furiosa, which wrapped shooting earlier this month.
According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, by the year 2050 more than 1.7 million Canadians are expected to be living with dementia, with an average of 685 individuals being diagnosed each day.
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There are many things Canadians can do to improve their health and reduce the impact of dementia, says the organization. Much like Hemsworth stated in his interview, these include being more physically and socially active, following a healthy diet and challenging one’s brain by engaging in games, reading, and learning new languages, hobbies and skills, among other things.
Chris Hemsworth helps return Tasmanian devils to Australian mainland after 3,000-year absence
Bob Iger is returning to Walt Disney Co as chief executive less than a year after he retired, a surprise comeback that coincides with the entertainment company’s attempt to boost investor confidence and profits at its streaming media unit.
Iger, 71, who was chief executive for 15 years and retired as chairman last year, has agreed to serve as CEO for two more years effective immediately, Disney said in a statement late on Sunday. He will replace Bob Chapek, who took over as Disney CEO in February 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leading to park closures and restrictions on visitors globally.
Disney shares surged more than 9% in premarket U.S. trading, valuing the company at about $182 billion. The Frankfurt-listed stock jumped as much as 10% in European trading on Monday, set for its best day in almost two years.
“Maybe the old hand on the tiller is what’s required,” said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson as the company spends billions of dollars to compete with rival Netflix and seeks to revive its share price.
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The stock has sunk more than 40% so far this year, lagging the nearly 7% year-to-date drop in the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average. It lost almost a third of its value while Chapek was at the helm.
“The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period,” Chairwoman Susan Arnold said in the statement.
Disney disappointed investors this month with an earnings report that showed mounting losses at its streaming media unit that includes Disney+. Shares hit a 20-year low the day after the fourth-quarter earnings.
The streaming business lost nearly $1.5 billion in the quarter, more than twice the previous year’s loss, overshadowing subscriber gains. The unit, which competes with Netflix Inc among others, has yet to turn a profit since its 2019 launch. Disney has said it expects Disney+ to become profitable in fiscal 2024.
“I am an optimist, and if I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty – perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty – our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible,” Iger said in a memo to employees seen by Reuters.
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Some activist investors have mounted pressure on Disney this year, including Third Point, led by billionaire Daniel Loeb.
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In August, Loeb began pushing for changes, including spinning off the ESPN sports television network and accelerating the planned takeover of Hulu from minority-owner Comcast Corp. The investor later tweeted that he better understood ESPN’s value to Disney.
In the days following its lacklustre earnings report, Trian Fund Management LP, co-founded by Nelson Peltz, earlier this month bought more than $800 million worth of Disney stock, according to a WSJ report on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trian’s view is that Iger should not be back in control of the company, it said.
The stake, which is under the 5% disclosure threshold, isn’t as large as Trian would like it to be and will likely grow subject to market conditions.
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The fund is also seeking a seat on Disney’s board as it pushes the entertainment giant to make operational improvements and cut costs, according to the report.
Disney did not respond to a request for comment on Trian.
Freeland acknowledges own privilege in response to criticism over Disney+ comments
Iger exited Disney on a high note as the company led the battle against Netflix in the streaming wars. During his tenure, Disney made several key acquisitions, including Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and 21st Century Fox, and boosted its market capitalization five-fold.
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During his first tenure, Disney’s annualised shareholder returns were more than 14%, well above its rival Comcast and the broader stock market.
During this second tour, Iger has been charged with “setting Disney on a path to renewed growth” and working with the board to identify a successor, the company said.
The leadership change caught employees by surprise, two company sources said.
Shortly after Iger’s return was announced, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings tweeted: “Ugh. I had been hoping Iger would run for President. He is amazing.”
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski; additional reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru and Lucy Raitano in London; Graphics by Vincent Flasseur; Editing by Kenneth Li, Miral Fahmy, Josephine Mason, Anil D’Silva and Bernadette Baum)
Disney+ Hostar’s parent Disney has brought back former Chairman & CEO Robert Iger to replace Bob Chapek as its top executive amid mounting losses on its streaming business, which includes the largest OTT player in India by user base which has been struck by slowing subscriber addition because of void created by the loss of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period,” Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board, said in a press release early on Monday IST.
The American entertainment giant has lost $1.5 billion on its streaming business, which includes Disney+ (as Disney+ Hotstar in Asia), Hulu, ESPN+ and the Star service in Europe, just this quarter and around $8 billion over the past three years, according to Q4 results declared 10 days ago. The company follows the October-September calendar.
Recent results showed that Disney+ Hotstar has a whopping 60.3 million subscribers in Asia. A large majority of it comes from India, making it the largest streamer by user base in the country, way ahead of rivals Amazon Prime Video (approximately 20 million) and Netflix (approximately 6 million). Disney+ Hotstar is also a crucial piece in the global scheme of things as it contributes around 37% to Disney+ ’s 164.2 million-strong global subscriber base.
The platform managed to attract a large part of that subscriber base because of the cricket IPL tournament, the digital streaming rights of which it has lost to Reliance-backed Viacom18 for the 2023-27 cycle.
It added fewer than 3 million subscribers in July-September compared to the 8 million in April-June. Besides, the firm expects its user base to decline in the October-December quarter because of the IPL void and stabilise during January-March, Disney’s chief financial officer Christine McCarthy warned in the recent earnings call. Further, the firm in August cut Disney+ Hotstar’s user base growth projection to 80 million by fiscal 2024 compared to its earlier projection of 70-100 million.
“The loss of digital IPL rights will be a short-term problem for Disney+ Hotstar. Sony had also lost the IPL rights five years ago and they also came out stronger after that by focusing on good content,” says former Sony LIV head and Kurate Digital Consulting’s Founding Partner Uday Sodhi. He says they have a great product and one of the best app distributions in the digital space, giving them a good edge in the long run as the market grows because of connected TVs and 5G.
At a time of proposed budget cuts and layoffs by parent firm Disney to focus more on profitability, the OTT player has its task cut out in grabbing eyeballs as the digital streaming landscape gets more competitive in India where content costs are high but ARPUs are low. That is, customers are not paying as much to match the platforms’ content investments.
“Sport content costs are escalating and that’s probably why they shied away from buying the IPL digital streaming rights. They are at a risk of losing 40-50% of subscriber base because of IPL. We see them trying to curtail that impact by investing in original content and licensed movies. They need to focus on large-scale franchise web series with strong recall so they can make multiple seasons of the same to get a sticky audience,” says Karan Taurani, Senior Vice-President, Elara Capital.
He also points out that a lot of OTT platforms were investing heavily in content because of high valuations and a good flow of money. “But that money flow has slowed down now globally.”
The Walt Disney Company announced late Sunday that former CEO Bob Iger would return to head the company for two years in a move that surprised the entertainment industry.
Disney said Bob Chapek, who succeeded Iger in 2020, had stepped down from the position.
“The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period,” board Chair Susan Arnold said in a statement from Disney.
Robert Iger attends the Stella McCartney “Get Back” Capsule Collection and documentary release of Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” at The Jim Henson Company on November 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
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Arnold thanked Chapek for his service, including his time during “the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.”
Iger steered Disney through its absorption of Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses and the launch of Disney Plus.
Earlier this month, Disney posted lower than expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter.
Not even three months ago Bob Iger appeared at a popular tech and media conference looking relaxed and extolling the benefits of being retired. After delaying his retirement for several years, the mogul had stepped down as CEO of Disney at the height of its success and installed longtime lieutenant Bob Chapek as his successor. But Iger, sporting a salt-and-pepper beard at the Code Conference in September, didn’t seem to have any regrets about leaving the job he’d held for 15 years—which might have a little something to do with the fact that he vacated the role less than a month before COVID-19 created unprecedented chaos in Hollywood. “Retirement is great,” he said. “I have a vastly different life than I had before.” So a shockwave rippled through Hollywood Sunday night when Disney announced that Iger would be returning to lead the company.
“The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period,” Disney chairman Susan Arnold said in a statement. She also thanked Chapek, who has stepped down from his role immediately, for his service to Disney.
The last few years haven’t been nearly so zen for Chapek, who’s had to navigate a global pandemic that forced movie theaters to close, cruise ships to dock, and theme parks to turn guests away. More recently, investors have become frustrated by the mounting losses at Disney’s streaming business, an initiative that Iger spearheaded before he departed. After the company reported a $1.5 billion loss for the streaming division, which includes Disney+, its stock plummeted. Disney shares are down more than 41% since the beginning of the year.
Chapek
MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
Iger handpicked Chapek to succeed him, but it’s well known in Hollywood that he hasn’t always agreed with the latter’s decisions. Still, it was considered unlikely that he would make a move to return to Disney. In June, the board reupped Chapek for an additional three years in a move that seemed designed to show that they were behind him in spite of public missteps, including his handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
In a memo to Disney staff sent Sunday evening, Iger himself expressed surprise over the move. “It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility—and, I must admit, a bit of amazement—that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney’s Company as Chief Executive Offer,” he said.
Iger was named CEO of Disney for the first time in 2005. He attempted to retire four times before finally ceding the role to Chapek. But even after exiting the CEO post, he stayed on as executive chairman until last December. In fact, in April 2020, the New York Times reported that Iger had “effectively returned to running the company” as it responded to the pandemic.
The Disney board has signed 71-year-old Iger to a two-year contract and plans to work with him to identify a successor for when his term ends. Iger told staff in his memo that they will hear more from him soon. “I know the company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging,” he wrote, “but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist, and if I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty—perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty—our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible.”
Chris Hemsworth’s new show with National Geographic on Disney Plus is “a mission to live better for longer.” But because of that show, he has come face-to-face with his “biggest fear” – that he might develop Alzheimer’s disease.
During one episode of the show, the 39-year-old “Thor” actor underwent genetic testing to learn more about his present and future health. It turns out that Hemsworth has a rare genetic makeup with two copies of the APO4 gene, which has been connected to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“ApoE4 is the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer’s disease,” a 2021 study by the National Institutes of Health says, “although inheriting ApoE4 does not mean a person will definitely develop the disease.”
While about 25% of the population has one copy of the gene, only 2% to 3% have two, according to that research.
“The idea that I won’t be able to remember the life I’ve experienced or my wife, my kids, this is probably my biggest fear,” Hemsworth says in the show’s fifth episode.
During filming, the show’s longevity doctor Peter Attia first told Hemsworth about the finding off-camera, Hemsworth told Vanity Fair. That conversation, Hemsworth said, “was pretty shocking.”
“It was a pretty brief conversation, all things considered. I hung up the phone and my parents were there, at the time,” he told Vanity Fair. “…I told them, and then they had a bunch of questions. I had a bunch of questions, but no one answered them. I wish I’d had a more intense follow-up with it because I didn’t really know what to think. I was like, ‘Am I supposed to be worried? Is this concerning?’”
Attia told Hemsworth in the episode that he is about 8 to 10 times more likely than the general population of developing Alzheimer’s. According to the National Institutes of Health, it’s also associated with early onset, which can happen anytime between someone’s 30s and mid-60s.
“There was an intensity to navigating it. Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we’ll somehow avoid it. We all have this belief that we’ll figure it out,” Hemsworth reflected to Vanity Fair. “Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality.”
It’s also a disease that his family has significant experience with. Hemsworth’s grandfather has Alzheimer’s.
“He doesn’t remember who we are, you know his grandkids, but also his own children he forgets. It’s heartbreaking,” he says in the show.
He also told Vanity Fair that there are some days when his grandfather is “quite joyful and gives you a big hug.”
“I’m not sure he actually remembers much anymore and he slips in and out of Dutch, which is his original language, so he’ll be talking Dutch and English and then a mash-up and them maybe some other new words as well,” he said.
Despite his genetic makeup and family history, Attia told Hemsworth, “it’s my belief that if we take every step possible, we can reduce your risk to that of anyone else.”
The finding propelled Hemsworth to take action. According to the National Institute of Aging, physical activity, blood pressure control and cognitive training – activities that help enhance memory, reasoning and processing speed – could help ward off the disease’s onset, although those findings are inconclusive.
“It’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation,” he told Vanity Fair.
“When you have preposition to cardiovascular heart disease, cancer, anything—it’s all about sleep management, stress management, nutrition, movement, fitness. It’s all kind of the same tools that need to be applied in a consistent way,” he said
But at the end of the day, Hemsworth told Vanity Fair that what matters most is making the most out of life for as long as you can.
“Whether or not any of this information helps you live longer, it’s about living better right now,” he said. “Whatever you do right now to benefit your future self is having a huge benefit in your current self. … Live with as big a sense of gratitude and love for life as you can.”
Since its first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, arrived in 1937, Walt Disney Studios has been churning out beloved classics that have ingrained themselves into popular culture. An overwhelming majority of these movies are downright excellent, gifting us with some of the most memorable songs and characters to ever grace the silver screen. Some are marginally better than others — and of course, there are a few clunkers — but overall, Disney’s batting average for family friendly hits is remarkably high.
When Disney joined forces with Pixar Animation Studios in the latter half of the 1990s, the bar was subsequently raised. New computer-generated animation techniques opened up the floodgates for some superb works, starting with 1995’s Toy Story all the way up to this year’s stellar Turning Red. Disney Animation Studios is also responsible for some popular entries into the Disney canon, such as Moana, Zootopia, and of course, Frozen.
While many of Disney’s standouts receive the due credit they deserve, there are a select few that frequently get left out. Maybe their box office performance wasn’t as successful as hoped, or perhaps they just became overshadowed by more popular films. One such movie considered by many to be underrated is 2007’s Enchanted — a live-action-animation hybrid that satirizes its own fairytale cliches while also proving their worth. Despite its critical praise, it took 15 years later to get a sequel. At long last, Disenchanted finally arrived on Disney+ on November 18. Let’s look back on Enchanted and the other underrated Disney movies of the past 25 years.
The Most Underrated Disney Movies Of The Last 25 Years
No one considers these Disney movies “classics” — but they should.
Today, Disney announced that starting on December 8, ticket prices will increase depending on which park you’re visiting. Prices for annual passes will also be higher, according to USA Today.
What does this mean for visitors? If you want to ride on Space Mountain or take a photo with Mickey Mouse, you’ll have to pay more.
“Magic Kingdom Park will be priced at or above our other theme parks due to the incredible demand as it remains the most-visited theme park in the world,” Disney said in a statement.
The announcement marks the latest price hikes related to Disney’s various properties. In early October, prices went up at Disneyland and California Adventure, to the ire of fans online. The resort also made it more expensive to eat at its iconic Victoria & Albert’s restaurant in Disney World.
And it’s not just the price of the tickets that are soaring. Disney has reportedly been increasing costs across the board, from hotel stays to food. Two customers even filed a class action lawsuit over changes made to previously purchased annual passes after the pandemic.
Starting December 8, each of Disney World’s theme parks will have a different price range. The lowest cost for all four parks is $109, but those numbers go up depending on demand and time of year.
Here are the new price ranges:
Animal Kingdom, from $109 to $159
EPCOT, from $114 to $179
Hollywood Studios, from $124 to $179
Magic Kingdom, from $124 to $189
Some other changes: People who buy passes that are “one park, one day,” will need to make a reservation at the same time.
Park hopping will also be pricer in both tiers and vary based on the date, according to CBS. You still can’t buy new annual passes, which previously had perks like no blackout dates (sales have been frozen since November). But expect prices to go up once Disney starts selling them again.
Steven Ferdman I Getty ImagesDisney CEO Bob Chapek.
The media and resort company’s CEO Bob Chapek wrote in an internal memo sent to Disney leaders on Friday that it will embark on cost-cutting initiatives, from slimming down business travel to reducing hiring to potentially laying off employees, CNBC first reported.
“I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions,” he wrote.
The move comes after Disney reported disappointing quarterly earnings last Tuesday. Its streaming business grew more quickly than analysts expected, but it’s still losing $1.47 billion a year, though that loss has been part of Chapek’s stated plan to build out streamers including Disney+. It reported $20.15 billion in quarterly revenue, below analysts’ expectation of $21.25 billion, per Reuters.
The company’s stock dropped some 13% based on the earnings report but has recovered somewhat since. It was the worst single-day drop for Disney in more than 20 years, Bloomberg noted.
Chapek told executives one of the first orders of business is to cut costs in areas including content, marketing, and travel.
Many businesses have been cutting costs amid fears of a recession. Tech companies such as Meta and Snap have implemented expense-reducing strategies including layoffs.
“In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only,” Chapek’s email said.
When it comes to meeting with coworkers or going offsite, “As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually,” it added.
As for content, “While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company,” it noted.
There were also some distinct warning bells as far as labor expenses go. Chapek said the company will implement a “targeted hiring freeze” and that hiring for only the most important roles will continue.
The memo also hinted that there could be layoffs, which Disney has not publicly addressed.
“As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review,” Chapek wrote.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As you may know, I’m a big ol’ Star Wars nerd. And one of my favorite things in Star Warsmedia is all the tiny references and Easter eggs embedded everywhere. But sometimes this fan service goes overboard and derails a story in a way that alienates or bores non-fans. Andor, the newest TV show set in the Star Wars universe, not only avoids this problem, but also finds perfect ways to utilize nerdy Star Wars lore without making it tedious or annoying for folks just wanting to watch a good show.
Andor, which premiered in late September on Disney+, is the latest entry in the Star Wars franchise and is set before the events of the original Star Wars film and the movie Rogue One. It follows the life of Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, as he navigates a galaxy controlled by the evil Empire. He’s not yet the rebel we know from Rogue One, but over the course of this season and presumably the next season, he will evolve into the man we met in that popular spin-off.
Disney / Lucasfilm
People across my timeline have been loving Andor. Even people who’d previously sworn off Star Wars entirely are back and enjoying every minute of the series. Many of them happily point out how the show isn’t a giant excuse to do fan service every week. But funnily enough, Andor has some of the coolest and most interesting bits of deep-cut Star Wars lore out of anything Star Wars-related in years; it’s just handled so well that most folks miss it all.
A great example comes in how the show handles Cassian’s home planet. In the first episode of the show, we learn that Cassian was born and raised on the planet Kenari. It’s newly created for Andor, which allowed showrunner Tony Gilroy more freedom to do whatever he needed with it and its people. But, technically, we already knew of Cassian’s home planet, and it wasn’t Kenari. Back when Rogue One came out, Lucasfilm released various book tie-ins. One reference tome listed Andor’s home world as Fest, an old Star Wars planet that first appeared in the game Dark Forces. So, at first, I thought the show had simply retconned that origin away. I wasn’t too annoyed by this, as I always prefer when Star Wars media focus on story over lore.
But then, in Andor episode two, we learn that Fest was a lie that Cassian and his adoptive mother told everyone to hide the truth of where he was really from, Kenari. For most viewers, that scene wasn’t that big of a deal: Cassian lied because he was trying to hide where he came from, got it. But for Star Wars nerds like me, it was a fantastic way to retcon something using Star Wars lore while still honoring a reference book from years ago. And it didn’t interfere with the show at all, allowing normal, non-Star Wars sickos to enjoy the show without rolling their eyes at some forced bit of fan service.
Lucasfilm / Star Wars Explained
Andor is filled with Star Wars lore and connections like this that it sneakily deploys in ways that make sense for general audiences, but which have deeper, interesting connections to the franchise’s decades of prior material. And unlike the last Star Wars show, the fun (but not nearly as good) Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor doesn’t get tangled up in fan service that distracts from the actual story and characters. The refs are there to find in Andor, if you care, but it’s totally fine if you just want to enjoy the thrilling ride instead.
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For example, Mon Mothma’s daughter, Lieda, isn’t a brand-new character, but instead a very deep-cut one who barely existed in the old Star Wars Extended Universe. So her popping up in the show not only brought her into canon, but was a very fun bit of fan service that didn’t stick out to most viewers.
Similarly, the kyber crystal Luthen Rael gives Cassian as payment for helping with a heist has its own subtle connection to old Star Wars lore. Sure, many viewers probably know vaguely that a kyber crystal powers lightsabers. And many also probably recalled that we previously saw Rogue One heroine Jyn Erso wearing a similar necklace. But while folks were looking at the crystal and going, “Oh that’s a thing I kind of know about…” Luthen drops one of the coolest bits of lore in the show, explaining that the crystal “celebrates the uprising against the Rakatan invaders.” That might have set off alarm bells in the heads of any fans who played Knights of the Old Republic.
That’s because the Rakatans were created for that game. They were an ancient race of super-powerful aliens who possibly invented hyperdrive and at one point controlled the galaxy as part of their Infinite Empire. Technically, they’ve been mentioned in canon before, but this is really the first big re-introduction of the species. Pondering how they could work into future Star Wars stories set far in the past has me very excited.
Speaking of video game references, in Luthen’s shop—which is chockablock with fun Easter eggs that could fill a whole separate blog—we see what appears to be a suit of Sith Stalker armor as first seen in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. That game and its main character, Starkiller, are no longer canon, and this armor popping up in Andor doesn’t change that. But it could hint that perhaps one day parts of Force Unleashed will be reintroduced into the modern Star Wars universe. I mean, if Jaxxon is canon these days, anything can happen.
But all of these deep-cut references and bits of fan service were likely never spotted by 90% of people watching Andor, even though some of them directly connect to the plot or the show’s characters. That’s an impressive feat to pull off, and based on interviews with the show’s creator, Tony Gilroy, a lot of this was included by Lucasfilm nerds and not himself. He recently told Varietythat he works closely with lore experts like Pablo Hidalgo to make sure he’s not doing anything that breaks the Star Wars universe. But for him, his real focus is on Andor’s story and its characters, not references to manuals or old video games.
“The art department will sneak in all that crap into Luthen’s gallery,” Gilroy told Variety. “I had no idea. Like, ‘Oh my God, the thing in the background!’ and people are blowing it up. That’s the art department. So many cool people work on the show. There’s a deep geekdom in Pinewood, believe me.”
That’s how it should be. If Disney wants to continue to create amazing Star Wars productions like Andor, it should bring in more creators and directors like Gilroy. People who, sure, might not be the biggest Star Wars fans in the world, but who have interesting stories to tell. Let those people create cool stuff while the nerds at Lucasfilm fill in the gaps with fan service that weirdos like me can get excited about, while never ruining the show for everyone else.
I admit, this is a hard balance to strike, and I don’t expect all future Star Wars projects to be like Andor. In fact, I would prefer a world where we get both shows like Andor, which are for everyone, and shows like Tales of the Jedi, which are good but clearly target Star Wars nerds like me. Star Wars can’t grow if it only focuses on its big fans, and Andor shows that when you expand the franchise and do something different, you not only end up pleasing longtime Star Wars nerds like me, but also reach a whole new audience that might never have cared about Star Wars in the first place. Plus, Andor is just really entertaining, so more shows like this sounds like a good thing to me.
The Disney+ Korean drama Revenge of Others begins with a tragedy. A student, Chan-hyuk, is sitting on a window sill talking to his twin sister Chan-mi. The video call suddenly ends when he falls to his death. Before falling he looks up as if there is someone else in the room.
Chan-mi, played by Shin Ye-eun, is confused by the call’s sudden end, but since she’s participating in a pistol competition, she must wait to find out why he hung up on her. Eventually, she goes to Seoul to look for him, only to learn that he died. Chan-hyuk is her only family and naturally she’s heartbroken. She’s also suspicious.
Her brother’s case is determined to be a suicide, but Chan-mi does not believe that’s possible. Since no one else is willing to consider murder, she decides to transfer to her brother’s school to investigate his death.
After she moves, she repeatedly encounters Ji Soo-heon, a student in her late brother’s school. Soo-heon, played by Lomon, seems like a good guy until he confesses that he saw her brother fall. Could Soo-heon have played a part in her brother’s death? Chan-mi may not initially have allies she can trust, but she does know how to use a gun. There’s a fine line between searching for justice and enacting revenge.
Shin Ye-eun previously starred in The Glory and Yumi’s Cells: Season 2, while Lomon appeared in the zombie hit drama All Of Us Are Dead. Revenge of Otheras also stars Seo Ji-hoon, who appeared in Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency and Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter, as well as Chae Sang-woo, who appeared in the drama Nokdu and the film The Face Reader.
Disney has already turned Marvel and Star Wars from movie franchises into Disney+ properties. Now, they’ve reportedly begun exploring the possibility of an Indiana Jones series. This news comes as the company is finishing a fifth Indiana Jones film, which was recently filmed; Harrison Ford is set to star in the latest sequel, which will presumably be his last outing in the character’s signature fedora.
According to Variety, Disney and Lucasfilm “have specifically been bringing up the possibility of a streaming show set in the world of the globe trotting archaeologist in general meetings with writers of late.” That suggests the concept is in extremely early stages, so it is totally unclear whether this show would reboot the Indiana Jones concept, or be tied in some way to the upcoming Indiana Jones 5.
This would not be the first Indiana Jones television series. George Lucas created The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1992, which followed the adventures of young Indy at two different ages: As a young boy and as a teenager. The show lasted for two seasons of 28 episodes, plus a handful of television movies.
James Mangold is directing Indiana Jones 5, and it would seem that he makes a great fit. He’s helmed a number of extremely successful films, including Logan, 3:10 to Yuma, and Walk the Line. George Lucas had actually worked on a potential fifth Indiana Jones prior to selling Lucasfilm to Disney, but nothing ever came of it. David Koepp and Jonathan Kasdan also jumped onto the project to write for a while, but that script was scrapped as well. The current version was penned by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth. Technically, Steven Spielberg is the only director the series has ever had, but that ends with this entry. He vacated the director’s chair back in 2020, and instead took a producer role.
Indiana Jones 5 is due for release in movie theaters on June 30, 2023.
Great Disney+ Movies You Might Have Missed
These excellent films are all waiting to be discovered on Disney+.
The Walt Disney Co. said its three main streaming services — Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu — have grown their subscriber numbers to more than 235 million as of October 1, or above Netflix’s 223 million subscribers.
Disney, which on Tuesday reported its latest quarterly results, said Disney+ added 12.1 million customers in the most recent quarter, while ESPN+ added 7 million subscribers and Hulu added 3.4 new accounts.
Disney and Netflix are locked in a battle for viewers, with both working on lower-priced ad-supported tiers to compete for cost-conscious consumers. While Netflix debuted its ad-supported network this month, Disney+ will roll out its own version on December 8.
“Disney+’s ad-supported tier is going to be a game changer for its subscriber and revenue growth,” said Jamie Lumley, analyst at Third Bridge, in an email. “Its launch can’t come soon enough.”
At the same time, Disney has grown its customer base with “family-friendly features and franchises,” Lumley added. “The big question from a content perspective is whether Disney+ will expand to more adult-focused entertainment and how it will approach this without impacting its traditional brand.”
Revenue grew 9% to $20.15 billion from $18.53 billion, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $21.27 billion.
Shares in Disney, which is based in Burbank, California, fell $6.15, or 6.2%, to $93.75 in after-hours trading.
CEO Bob Chapek said the company still expects the money-losing Disney+ service to be profitable in 2024 “assuming we do not see a meaningful shift in the economic climate.”
Selena Gomez has been open about her physical and mental health journeys. And this week, she’s opening up more than ever before, with a deep interview with Rolling Stone and the release of her new Apple TV+ documentary “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.”
Ahead of Friday’s release of her documentary, Rolling Stone published an interview with Gomez in which she details her mental health struggles in her 20s before she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which causes “dramatic shifts” in a person’s mood, energy and thought processing, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“People with bipolar experience high and low moods—known as mania and depression—which differ from the typical ups-and-downs most people experience,” the organization says.
“I’m going to be very open with everybody about this: I’ve been to four treatment centers,” Gomez, 30, told Rolling Stone. “I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad.”
Gomez, a former Disney star who has become a force in the entertainment and business worlds, went on to tell the magazine that her mania and depression spells would last weeks or months, with no particular triggers. During her highs, she thought she had to share her wealth with everyone she knew – at one point she was convinced she had to buy everyone a car. But then a switch would flip and she would get hit with depression and soon after, isolation.
“It just was me not being able to move from my bed. I didn’t want anyone to talk to me. My friends would bring me food because they love me, but none of us knew what it was,” she said. “Sometimes it was weeks I’d be in bed, to where even walking downstairs would get me out of breath.”
She told Rolling Stone that for years, she contemplated suicide. She never attempted it.
“I thought the world would be better if I wasn’t there,” she said.
In 2018, when Gomez was in her mid-20s, she said she started to hear voices that eventually triggered psychosis. Gomez’s memory of this time is scant, but told the magazine she ended up at a treatment facility for several months. Eventually, she said, she started slowly “walking out of psychosis” and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
But the diagnosis didn’t put an immediate end to the struggle. The combination of medications she was on made her feel “that I was gone.”
“There was no part of me that was there anymore,” she said.
Eventually, her medications were sorted and she was able to begin healing. It took “a lot of hard work,” she said, to accept her diagnosis and learn how to manage it.
This journey, as well as others, is documented in her newly released documentary “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.” When Apple+ screened the film, Gomez refused to watch, but did pay attention to how the audience responded. It was clear it had an emotional impact.
“I was like, ‘OK, if I can just do that for one person, imagine what it could do,’” she told Rolling Stone. “Eventually I just kind of went for it. I just said, ‘Yes.’”
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@nami.org.
Security guards keep order at Shanghai Disney Resort, October 31, 2022 in Shanghai, China.
VCG/VCG via Getty
Beijing — Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were temporarily blocked from leaving the park on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people were screened for COVID-19 infection over a single case. The testing extended to more than 400,000 people, the city government announced Tuesday.
The park closed Monday for testing of staff and visitors, Walt Disney Co. and the government said in separate statements. The city health bureau said guests all tested negative and were allowed to leave by 8:30 p.m., but one visitor from elsewhere in China told the Reuters news agency she didn’t make it out until 10 p.m.
Marvis He told Reuters she and her companion had flown in from the city of Shenzhen to enjoy the Disney park’s Halloween fireworks.
“I feel disappointed, we waited so long in the park… but we didn’t get to see anything and only got to get out at 10 p.m.,” she told Reuters as she left.
“We were also cold and hungry,” added her friend.
Reuters quoted city authorities as saying the resort shut its gates after authorities became aware of a 31-year-old woman who had visited the park in recent days testing positive for the coronavirus.
Medical workers carry out COVID-19 nucleic acid testing on tourists at Shanghai Disney Resort on October 31, 2022 in Shanghai, China.
VCG/VCG via Getty
Some 1.3 million residents of Shanghai’s downtown Yangpu district had been ordered to stay at home for virus testing on Friday, and it was expected to be related to the same case.
President Xi Jinping’s government has stuck to its severe “zero-COVID” strategy even as most of the rest of the world has dropped anti-coronavirus restrictions. The draconian measures have seen entire cities, including Shanghai, shut down this year to isolate every suspected case.
Also Tuesday, authorities in the southern territory of Macao were carrying out virus tests on all of its 700,000 residents after one case was found last week.
“Zero-COVID” has kept infection rates relatively low but at a high cost as businesses struggle with repeated shutdowns.
Hong Kong’s main stock market index surged 5.2% on Tuesday after a comment circulated on Chinese social media that said the ruling Communist Party might set up a “reopening committee” to look at ways to wind down the anti-virus controls.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, told reporters he was “not aware of what you just mentioned” when asked about the rumor.
Outbreaks in Shanghai in March led to a shutdown that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes for two months.
The city government appealed to anyone who had visited the Shanghai Disney Resort since Thursday to undergo three days of nucleic acid testing and avoid gathering in groups.
Disney said Monday parts of the resort closed due to anti-virus regulations but gave no indication visitors were kept inside. It said Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park were closed while two hotels were operating normally.
Some rides and other amusements kept operating Monday while visitors were tested, according to social media posts.
“Please return and take a tour in the park,” a video on the popular Sina Weibo platform showed an employee in a mask saying to guests. “The park’s gates are all closed temporarily, and you cannot leave now.”
Another video on Sina Weibo showed technicians in white protective suits who appeared to be taking throat swabs from guests after dark while police watched and a fireworks display lit up the sky behind them.
“The most beautiful nucleic acid detection point,” the account user wrote.
The omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 continued to spread in the U.S. in the week through Oct. 29, accounting for 27.1% of new cases nationwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
The two accounted for 42.5% of all cases in the New York region, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, up from 37% the previous week. That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 35.7% of new cases in the New York area in the latest week.
The BA.5 omicron subvariant accounted for 49.6% of all U.S. cases, the data show.
BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were included in BA.5 variant data as recently as three weeks ago, because their numbers were too small to break out. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places.
Last week, the World Health Organization said that BQ.1 and another sublineage dubbed XBB do not appear to have immune-escape mutations that warrant being designated as variants of concern. However, BA.5 is still a variant of concern that is being closely monitored, said a statement from the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution.
Workers in a manufacturing facility that assemble Apple Inc.’s AAPL, -1.66%
iPhone in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou appear to have left to avoid COVID-19 curbs, with many traveling on foot for days after an unknown number of employees were quarantined in the facility after a virus outbreak, the Associated Press reported.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people who are allegedly Foxconn workers climbing over fences and carrying their belongings down a road.
Separately, visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were left stranded at the park on Monday after the resort halted operations to comply with COVID-19 restrictions amid a new outbreak of the virus.
In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where data are not being collected.
The daily average for new cases stood at 36,869 on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 2% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 3% to 27,415, while the daily average for deaths was down 6% to 352.
• With a downcast earnings season passing the halfway mark, results from financial-technology companies and vaccine makers will arrive this week amid questions about consumer spending as well as demand for COVID drugs, MarketWatch’s Bill Peters reported. Pfizer Inc. PFE, -1.82%
will report earnings on Tuesday, followed by Moderna Inc. MRNA, -0.47%
on Thursday. Analysts will have their eye on the state of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment sales and on what executives are anticipating for the full year, as they prepare for a private market for COVID medications and as more people shrug off the pandemic. Pfizer executives, during a call last week, said they intended to charge between $110 and $130 for a single-dose vial of the vaccine for U.S. adults when government purchases end. But they said they believe anyone who has health insurance shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket.
The FDA authorized newly modified COVID-19 boosters to target the latest versions of the omicron variant. But as WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains, a key part of the decision-making process was changed with these new shots. Photo: Laura Kammermann
• A number of young children are being hospitalized because of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and it’s happening at an unusual time of year and among older children than in years past, MarketWatch’s Jaimy Lee reported. COVID may be a contributing factor, in part because many children were not exposed to RSV last season and also because a prior COVID infection or exposure may change the way a baby’s immune system responds to RSV and may lead to more severe illness from an RSV infection, according to Asuncion Mejias, a principal investigator with the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
• On Saturday, more than 3,000 people took part in the first Pride march in South Africa since the COVID pandemic , celebrating the LGBT community and defying a U.S. warning of a possible terror attack in the area, the AP reported. The U.S. government this week warned of a possible attack in the Sandton part of Johannesburg, where the march took place. The South African government expressed concern that the U.S. had not shared enough information to give credibility to the alleged threat. Police said all measures had been taken to ensure safety in the area.
The U.S. leads the world with 97.5 million cases and 1,070,266 fatalities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.
So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.
Disney has debuted its first plus-size female protagonist in a short film on Disney+. “Reflect” follows a young ballet dancer named Bianca who struggles with her body image.
The film started streaming on the platform Sept. 14, and is part of the studio’s Short Circuit Experimental Films series. The film has garnered praise from social media users for encouraging body positivity.
“Do recommend for anyone that struggles with the image they see in the mirror,” one user wrote. “So, everyone. But this is especially for those of us that society shuns for having a body that doesn’t match the alleged ‘perfect’ image.”
REFLECT on Disney+ (Series: Short Circuit). Do recommend for anyone that struggles with the image they see in the mirror. So, everyone. But this is especially for those of us that society shuns for having a body that doesn’t match the alleged “perfect” image. #bodypositivitypic.twitter.com/fxr4gy9EPT
In an introduction that is shown prior to the film, “Reflect” director Hillary Bradfield said the idea behind the short started when she first began thinking about her own body philosophy.
“I feel like I’m a very body-positive person in principle, but when it’s on a personal level, it’s a lot harder to be body-positive,” Bradfield said.
In the film, Bianca is seen practicing ballet in front of a mirror. As she is reflected, the mirror image breaks, and the animation shows her confidence wane. Eventually, however, she is able to use her ballet skills to overcome her negative feelings.
“I just watched reflect on Disney+ and it portrays body positivity and exactly how I felt as a child,” another Twitter user wrote.
I just watched reflect on Disney+ and it portrays body positivity and exactly how I felt as a child and now so well god I hate how I look but watching this can help me understand it’ll be okay to just be myself
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 09: Aubrey Plaza attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party … [+] hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Getty Images
If you’re like me, then you have multiple subscriptions to several different streaming platforms—which are all constantly adding new movies. Which begs the question each successive weekend: What do I watch?
For me, it helps to have all of those new films in one place. So in this article, I’ll run through the biggest new movies on major stream platforms, including Netflix NFLX , Amazon AMZN Prime, Hulu, HBO, Peacock, Mubi, Disney+, Apple AAPL TV+, and Paramount PARA +.
At the end of the article, you can find a full list of all the new films available to stream this weekend.
The White Lotus: Season 2 (HBO)
An all-star cast head to a resort and unleash their worst, most privileged impulses. The series is a sharp social satire following the exploits of various guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose stay becomes affected by their various dysfunctions. A week in the life of vacationers is unravelled as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself.
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
The two devious demon brothers Wendell and Wild (Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key) have to face their arch-enemy with the help of the nun Sister Helly, who is notorious for expelling demons. However, the brothers are not only plagued by her, but also by her altar boys.
Run Sweetheart Run (Amazon Prime)
After what begins as dinner with a client, a single mom finds herself hunted by a monstrous and seemingly unstoppable assailant.
Clean (Hulu)
A tormented rubbish man named Clean tries to live a quiet life of redemption, but when his good intentions make him the target of a local crime boss, he must soon reconcile with the violence of his past.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Now in the care of Dave Seville’s nephew (Zachary Levi), chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore take a break from pop-music stardom and return to school. Almost immediately, the tiny tunesmiths get the giant task of saving their school’s music program by winning a battle-of-the-bands contest. Though the boys think winning it will be easy, romantic and musical sparks fly when they meet Brittany, Eleanor and Jeannette — also known as The Chipettes.
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
This documentary honours the musician’s legacy as a founding father of jazz. The film shows how Armstrong’s life spans the shift from the Civil War to the civil rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era.
Survival of the Dead (Mubi)
Zombies have taken over the world, and a ragtag band of soldiers led by Sarge Crockett (Alan Van Sprang) roams the countryside trying to scavenge what they can. Constantly on guard against flesh-eaters, the group is intrigued when they hear of a safe haven on Plum Island. But when they arrive, they find the supposed paradise torn apart by a family feud between the O’Flynns, who want to exterminate all zombies, and the Muldoons, who coexist peacefully with their undead relatives.
Every new movie and show you can stream this weekend
Netflix
All Quiet on the Western Front (October 28)
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (October 28)
Big Mouth: Season 6 (October 28)
Drink Masters (October 28)
I AM A STALKER (October 28)
If Only (October 28)
My Encounter with Evil (October 28)
Wendell & Wild (October 28)
Wild is the Wind (October 28)
Deadwind: Season 3 (October 29)
Amazon
The Devil’s Hour (October 28)
Downton Abbey: A New Era (October 28)
Run Sweetheart Run (October 28)
Hulu
HBO
Garcia!: Season 1 Premiere (October 28)
The Lost Kitchen: Season 3 (October 30)
The White Lotus: Season 2 Premiere (October 30)
Disney+
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (October 28)
An actor in the national tour of The Lion King sued Disney and individual employees Thursday after he was terminated in 2020, alleging the company discriminated against him for taking paternity leave and as a retaliatory measure after he made allegations of sexual harassment.
Actors perform during a full dress rehearsal of The Lion King in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 11, … [+] 2013.
Copyright 2013 AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Key Facts
Actor William James sued Disney Theatrical Group, Disney Studios Content and several individual employees in New York State Supreme Court, accusing them of violating state human rights laws that prohibit discrimination after he was fired on the first day of his paternity leave.
James alleges the general manager of the Lion King tour, Ameena Kaplan, repeatedly sexually harassed him for months in 2019—as well as other male employees—including by asking him to meet privately after work hours, and then suggesting she could limit his role as an understudy for Mufasa in retaliation for rejecting her advances.
Disney management turned a “collective bind-eye” to James’ allegations about his “hostile work environment,” he alleges, and “condoned and supported” Kaplan instead, alleging that after they investigated James’ claims, management told him he “needed to correct his behavior” and behave better toward Kaplan.
Disney “did not train, supervise or instruct its employees, or management” on how to properly handle allegations of discrimination, James alleges.
James brought the lawsuit after Actors Equity, which represents Broadway and national tour performers, filed a grievance on his behalf and investigated the incident, the lawsuit alleges, which corroborated James’ sexual harassment allegations—but Disney “did not care,” the suit claims, at which point the union advised the actor to pursue legal action.
Disney Theatrical Group and the broader Walt Disney Company have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Crucial Quote
James “suffered severe emotional distress, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of employment, physical humiliation, special damages, fear, intimidation, anxiety, depression, anger, loss of employment opportunities,” the lawsuit alleges.
What To Watch For
James is asking for Disney and the other defendants to pay an unspecified amount in damages for the “mental, emotional and physical injury” he has allegedly suffered, as well as a court declaration that Disney engaged in unlawful employment practices.
Key Background
This marks the second major paternity leave-based lawsuit that Disney has faced in recent years, after Disney Streaming Service employee Steven Van Soeren sued Disney in federal court in 2019 for alleged pregnancy discrimination after he was terminated following a two-week paternity leave. Disney ultimately won that case in court, after alleging federal law only protects the pregnant person and not the father, as a federal judge moved to dismiss the case in 2020. James’ lawsuit is filed in state and not federal court, however, and does not make any claims under federal law—rather alleging broader discrimination under state rules—so it’s possible his case could succeed even after the previous case failed.
