Disney Attempts to Rebrand DEI Program, Putting Lipstick On This Hellish Pig

Back in the day, a failing circus would rebrand its clowns as "performance artists" in a desperate bid to trick the audience into coming back. The costumes were the same, the makeup just as garish, the pratfalls just as predictable—but suddenly, they were elevated. They weren’t jesters anymore; they were visionaries. And for a moment, the audience might have squinted and played along, pretending not to notice the ruse.

Disney, it seems, has taken a page from that playbook.

In a world where corporate cowardice is the currency of the day, Disney has pulled off the grift of the century, rebranding its toxic DEI initiatives under a fresh coat of make-up and hoping you won’t notice. You’ve got to hand it to them—there’s a certain artistry to deception. Like a failing magician sweating under the stage lights, Disney has swapped out the old, radioactive "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" label for something softer, cuddlier, and just vague enough to avoid scrutiny.

Enter "Belonging."

But underneath the semantics, the sophistry, and the clever rebranding, you can see that there is no actual change. It’s a shell game, a PR move meant to keep investors happy while the same divisive policies fester under the surface. The memo to executive leaders drones on about their commitment to a "welcoming and respectful environment" and the importance of "aligning initiatives with business goals," but let’s decode the corporate double-speak—they’ve merely found a new way to enforce ideological conformity while pretending it’s all about teamwork and positivity.

The newly minted "Other Performance Factors" (OPFs), which executives will now be judged by, Disney smugly assures us this includes a "Talent Strategy" factor, designed to assess how leaders "uphold our company values, incorporate different perspectives to drive business success, cultivate an environment where all employees can thrive, and sustain a robust pipeline to ensure long-term organizational strength."

What a mouthful. Translated into plain English? They’re still rewarding ideological purity, just without the radioactive DEI branding that has become a liability. This isn’t a retreat—it’s a rearmament.

And speaking of euphemisms, the company has proudly announced its rebranded Employee Resource Groups, now dubbed "Belonging Employee Resource Groups" (BERGs). The 'B' once stood for "Business"—an already flimsy attempt at legitimacy—but now it’s "Belonging," a term so nebulous and manipulative it might as well have been cooked up in a San Francisco Pride think tank specializing in corporate gaslighting. They aren’t erasing DEI, they’re baking it into the foundation and daring you to notice.

Disney’s four "key pillars" of this new talent strategy scream authenticity. They proudly tout "barrier-free talent processes" (a euphemism for prioritizing race and identity over qualifications), "purposefully championing a culture where everyone belongs" (unless, of course, you disagree with their politics), and "supporting underserved communities" (which, as we’ve seen, always seems to involve funneling money into activist causes rather than actual merit-based opportunities).

This is DEI with a facelift, a Frankenstein monster sewn together with old parts but paraded around like a brand-new innovation.

But here’s the real tell. Disney’s memo admits outright that this is nothing more than a "continued evolution" of the previous DEI framework, formerly called "Reimagine Tomorrow." They aren’t hiding it. They aren’t backing down. They are simply shifting the language, hoping the rubes won’t connect the dots. It’s like a fast-food chain renaming its stale, soggy burger the "Artisan Classic" and expecting customers not to notice it still tastes like disappointment and regret.

Listen, parents, nothing is changing. Disney’s leadership isn’t interested in fostering genuine meritocracy or true artistic excellence. They’re playing word games while hoping the you forget why they started tuning out in the first place. This isn’t reform. This isn’t change. It’s a scam. A repackaging of the same ideological poison that has driven audiences away in droves, dressed up in soft-focus language designed to lull the inattentive into complacency.

Disney is already losing. The public has seen behind the curtain. Families aren’t fooled. Parents have had enough. And no amount of corporate buzzwords or linguistic acrobatics will make them forget what Disney has become—a company more interested in indoctrination than imagination.

Rebrand all you want, Disney. The audience has left the theater.