Walt Disney Co on Friday said that remarks by activist investor Nelson Peltz criticizing the company for making movies dominated by female and Black actors is evidence that he shouldn’t be on Disney’s board.

Peltz, whose fight to join Disney as a director has become one of the year’s most bitter and closely watched board battles, in an interview with the Financial Times said Disney’s films have become too focused on delivering a message, and not enough on quality storytelling. He specifically took issue with “The Marvels” and “Black Panther.”

“Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that?" Peltz said in the interview, published on Friday. "Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?”

Asked about Peltz’s remarks, a Disney spokesperson responded: “This is exactly why Nelson Peltz shouldn’t be anywhere near a creatively driven company.”

  • SoylentBlake
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    8 months ago

    Dude, your moaning over a fictional story. There is no wakanda for them to draw staff from. Authenticity to the real world is an impossibility from the start, using that as a critique isnt a rational position. They could be authentic to the comic, that’s it. And they made their calls, even if you disagree with them. Maybe they auditioned every willing man in Africa, what do we know? Was it even filmed in Africa or was Wakanda, not being real and all, just CGI and built on a set.

    That…tracks with how movies are made, my guy. Just saying.

    Beyond that, Black Panther was a huge American production. Millions on millions of dollars on the line. They need actors the director can work with. How many actors do you think there are in Central Africa that speak fluent enough English that the director can wax on motive and speak the superlatively emotive, circularly self-referencing, psuedo-scientific humble-brag that is woke therapy-speak?

    How many of those Central African actors in LA at the time of casting?

    Don’t get offended on behalf of other people. All you do then is deny them a voice. The perpetually offended hurt every “cause” they match onto because they’re full of shit, just want attention (even if they have a point) and in general are just plain insufferable.