Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek said Lucasfilm’s recent firing of popular actress Gina Carano is in line with his company’s mission to employ those with “values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity, and values of inclusion.”
The comment came Tuesday when the businessman was specifically asked by a shareholder if there is a “blacklist” targeting talent that doesn’t toe a left-wing ideological line.
“[Disney stands] for values that are universal: values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity, and values of inclusion,” Mr. Chapek responded to the shareholder question while also denying the existence of a blacklist.
Ms. Carano was fired from Lucasfilm in February after warning followers on social media to avoid demonizing each other over political differences.
The former “Mandalorian” star compared modern political rhetoric to that of Nazi Germany prior to World War II.
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children,” she wrote. “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.”
Lucasfilm called the tweet “abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Mr. Chapek appeared to agree.
“[Disney is not] left-leaning or right-leaning. … We seek to have the content that we make reflective of the rich diversity of the world we live in,” he said, The Hollywood Reporter noted. “I think that’s a world we should all live in harmony and peace.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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