The FCC Goes Full “Anti-Woke” Throttle, Targeting Disney in DEI Purge…

Well, if any of you thought the FCC spent its time making sure your grandma’s landline still works and slapping late-night infomercials with fines for saying “hell” before 10 p.m.—think again. Chairman Brendan Carr just turned the agency into a political trench-warfare outfit, and his newest target? The House of Mouse.

(Source: Giphy) 

Yes, sir. Disney—the company that gave us talking lions, princesses, and a Marvel content calendar that could fill a CVS receipt—is now under federal investigation for…checks notes... diversity. Specifically, the FCC wants to know if Disney’s DEI efforts are “invidious.” Translation: Is Mickey Mouse being too woke? Spoiler: Yes. 

In short, Carr,  a Trump appointee and now the FCC’s top dog, fired off a letter to Bob Iger last Friday that read less like a regulatory inquiry and more like a prime Bill O’Reilly monologue. He accused Disney of embracing “discriminatory initiatives” under the banner of DEI and said he’d like to know whether the company violated equal employment opportunity rules by, among other things, making sure not every character in a Pixar film is a white dude named Chad.

(Source: CNBC) 

Additionally, Carr made sure to tie it into the broader Trumpian executive order that’s basically a kill-switch for corporate DEI programs. You know, the one that tells every federal agency to go out and find nine companies to investigate for the crime of… hiring inclusively? Exactly. 

What's more is that the FCC isn’t just sniffing its way into Disney, they’re also poking around NBCUniversal, Verizon, NPR, and PBS. Hell, even Apple and Google got a tap on the shoulder recently. But really, in this essence, Disney is the crown jewel (if you’ve seen any of the releases over the past two years, it's not hard to understand why). 

(Source: Business Insider) 

To be fair though, Disney has already dialed some of this back. They’ve made quiet changes to their DEI policies, likely realizing that being the face of “woke capitalism” is a quick way to get slapped with lawsuits, political boycotts, and 6-minute takedowns on YouTube. But Carr isn’t buying the rebrand. “I’ve seen reports that Disney recently walked back some of its DEI programs,” he wrote, “but significant concerns remain.” Shots fired. 

Now, this is the part where I remind you: the FCC regulates communications—not HR policies. But Carr’s angle is that DEI could violate employment regs tied to federally licensed broadcasters like ABC. So yeah, this isn’t about Disney+ or the theme parks. This is about whether ABC News is giving too many anchor chairs to people who didn’t go to Yale with Tucker Carlson. Disney’s response to this was of course a massive nothingburger that stated, “We’re reviewing the letter and look forward to engaging.” Translation: “We’re lawyering the f*k up”

(Source: Giphy) 

So with that, what happens next? Disney will probably hand over a bunch of binders, some strategically redacted PDFs, and a few spreadsheets showing how they cast the new season of Grey’s Anatomy. The FCC will posture. The right-wing media machine will lap it up. And Bob Iger will keep trying to figure out how to make a Star Wars show that doesn’t piss off half the internet (which they’ve absolutely sucked so far, so the expectations are low in that regard). 

In the end, Disney looks to be in hot water for the time being, but for any publicly traded company with a DEI agenda on their website, they might want to get ahead of this. And at the very least, as an investor, you should too—because the government badges are coming out—and a company in your portfolio may be next. Meaning, place your bets accordingly, friends and as always, stay safe and stay frosty! Until next time…

P.S. Lockheed just experienced a major $5 billion defense contract win. Meaning, we’ll be keeping a close eye on defense stocks heading into today's opening bell as the defense industry continues ramping up their projects. We could see some massive explosions ahead (pun definitely intended) so make sure you’re in the Stocks.News premium club to be the first in the know—before every Joe, Dick, and Harry end up crashing the party… 

Stocks.News holds positions in the Walt Disney Company, Verizon, Apple, and Google as mentioned in the article.