Disney shareholders cling to DEI commitment, corporate ranking with Human Rights Campaign

Shareholders at Disney have rejected a proposal that would have the company stop participating in a national report having to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The report is part of the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Corporate Equality Index for company standards and companies must meet certain thresholds on DEI to be included.

According to Business Insider, only 1 percent of shareholders voted to approve the anti-DEI proposal, according to initial numbers from a vote done by Disney, but the company, under CEO Bob Iger, will disclose the complete vote count next week in a filing. 

On Thursday, Disney held an annual meeting with shareholders, where the National Center for Public Policy Research demanded that the Walt Disney Company stop using the HRC Corporate Equality Index for company standards. Kelly Robinson is the president of HRC. Disney has a perfect score on the index. 

"When corporations take extreme positions, they destroy shareholder value by alienating large portions of their customers and investors. This proposal provides Disney with an opportunity to move back to neutral," the National Center for Public Policy Research said.

The HRC's index has been derided by conservatives at different companies and has been a particular target of conservative activist Robby Starbuck, as he has campaigned against corporations using DEI and other left-wing policies. The index shows how companies rank regarding the implementation of DEI.

Disney has also been slammed over it's new live-action Snow White releasing to theaters on Friday, as star Rachel Zegler has made derisive comments about the 1937 original. She said that the movie is “dated” and that Snow White is “not going to be saved by the prince. She’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be."

The movie got a Rotten Tomatoes score of 47 percent leading up to its release.

Other major companies have disbanded with or rolled back DEI programs, in addition to stopping their use of the HRC corporate equality index in recent months.

Walmart, for example, was a target of an investigation by Starbuck, and has abandoned DEI policies as well as the index from HRC. "MASSIVE news," Starbuck said at the time, "Walmart is ending their woke policies. I can now exclusively tell you what’s changing and how it happened.” Meta and Amazon have both also rolled back DEI practices.