A "fierce backlash" has caused the Walt Disney Company to reverse its decision to bar the Los Angeles Times from press screenings of its movies following an investigation by the newspaper into the media giant’s business dealings in Anaheim, California.
Disney’s change of course on Tuesday came after a number of news outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times and the A.V. Club -- an entertainment website featuring reviews and interviews that examine films, music, television, books, games and other elements of pop culture -- said they were all boycotting advance screenings of Disney films “in solidarity” with the Los Angeles newspaper.
According to a Times article written by Sydney Ember and Brooks Barnes, a spokesperson for the entertainment giant stated: “We’ve had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns, and as a result, we’ve agreed to restore access to advance screenings for their film critics.”
Ember and Barnes also noted: “The company also faced pressure from several high-profile Hollywood figures, including Ava DuVernay, who directed A Wrinkle in Time, which is scheduled to be released by Disney on March 9.”
“Saluting the film journalists standing up for one another,” DuVernay wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Standing with you.”
“Critics’ organizations also came out against Disney,” Ember and Barnes added before stating:
On Tuesday, members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics denounced Disney’s blackout of the Times.
Each group voted to disqualify Disney’s movies from year-end award consideration unless the blackout was “publicly rescinded.”
“The Times had made Disney’s blackout public in a note to readers last week that explained why no feature articles about Disney movies appeared in its 2017 holiday movie preview section,” the reporters continued.
“Disney also did not give the Times early access to Thor: Ragnarok so that it could prepare a review in time” for the film’s opening last Friday, Ember and Barnes continued.
The reporters also noted: “Disney has a history of taking punitive action against news organizations that publish articles that it deems unfair,” the reporters noted.
In explaining this particular blackout, Disney cited an investigation by the Los Angeles Times that ran in September about its business ties with Anaheim, where its popular Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks are located.
The two-part investigative series detailed the “subsidies, incentives, rebates and protections from future taxes” that Disney had secured from the city, as well as the company’s impact on local elections.
The media giant released a statement of its own, noting: “We regularly work with news organizations around the world that we don’t always agree with, but in this instance, the L.A. Times showed a complete disregard for basic journalistic standards.”
“Disney’s decision to block Times journalists from advance screenings inadvertently drew national attention to the articles on the company’s dealings with Anaheim,” the reporters indicated. “It also stirred outrage and scrutiny.”
In one such response, Alyssa Rosenberg, who covers culture for The Washington Post, declared: “As long as Disney is blocking the critics from the Los Angeles Times from press screenings, I can’t in good conscience attend similar showings or write reviews in advance.”
On Twitter, a poster from The New York Times stated: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
The post added: “A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect. This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.”
Also on Twitter, CNN's Jake Tapper took action to show his displeasure with the Disney situation in a tweet to his followers: “I just took out a subscription to the L.A. Times in honor of Disney boycotting the newspaper because it engaged in journalism. Join me!”
Early on Tuesday, Roger Friedman posted: “Disney has overplayed its hand” in what he called “a watershed moment since four major critics groups have joined together to denounce Disney. They’ve voted to disqualify Disney films from” any year-end awards “until the ban is lifted.”
“It’s about time this happened,” he continued. “Bravo!”
Over the past several years, Disney has acquired several different venues, including Star Wars and Marvel Comics, in what some consider an apparent quest to dominate entertainment in all its forms.
