Disney execs promise ‘real change’ amid George Floyd protests

Disney’s top brass weighed in on the the protests over the killing of George Floyd, as well as the devastating toll communities of color have taken in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Disney executive chairman Bob Iger, along with CEO Bob Chapek and company senior vice president and chief diversity officer Latondra Newton circulated a letter to employees Sunday night expressing their grief over the recent events. They joined Netflix, ViacomCBS, Warner Bros. and other media companies in expressing their solidarity with the black community.

In a letter called “Resolve in a Time of Unrest,” the trio said they are “struggling to make sense of the recent tragedies that leave us feeling overcome with sorrow.” They cited the killing of Floyd, as well as other instances of “lethal attacks and harassment of unarmed black citizens in our nation,” as well as the pandemic, which has ravaged the African-American community and “pushed the issues of racial disparity into the open.”

“While we don’t have all the answers, we resolve to use our compassion, our creative ideas and our collective sense of humanity to ensure we are fostering a culture that acknowledges our people’s feelings and their pain,” Chapek, Iger and Newton said.

“We also realize that now more than ever is the time for us all to further strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion everywhere,” the executives promised. “We intend to keep the conversation going, not just today, but for as long as it takes to bring about real change,” they concluded.