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There’s a ‘Bloodbath’ Happening at Disney and Woke Employees are Being Led to the Chopping Block

March 23, 2023 by Brandon Morse Leave a Comment

No one is safe at Disney, including executives.

As reported by Deadline, Disney is about to go through a massive round of layoffs with 7000 employees (around 3 percent of the company’s global workforce) being terminated beginning at the end of March. Cuts are expected to happen between Disney properties from its parks to its entertainment divisions:

Insiders tell Deadline that multiple rounds of cuts are being prepared. The first one is being targeted for late March, likely next week, we hear. (March 30 or March 31 have been floated as possible dates, but that has not been confirmed.) According to sources, there will be a big wave in late April, described as “the big one” or a “bloodbath,” when a large portion of the cuts are expected to come.
Information varies on a potential third round of layoffs. Some say it might come between the one in late March and the one in late April, while others note that it could follow the one in late April if it’s deemed necessary. Disney declined to comment.

The company is looking to save over $5 billion through its cuts, and we can get a very good look at what those cuts might look like given its most recent, high-profile firing.

Marvel Studios Vice President Victoria Alonso was fired shortly after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a box office disaster. Alonso had been a part of Marvel Studios since 2006, even before Disney had bought the brand for $4 billion. While the exact reason for Alonso’s firing is unclear, the decision for her termination was made by various entities within Disney according to Variety:

While the cause of Alonso’s termination is unclear, the sources said, the decision was made by a consortium including human resources, Disney’s legal department and multiple executives including Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman (to whom all of Marvel Studios reports). Alonso’s longtime boss and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige felt mired in an impossible situation and, ultimately, did not intervene, one source added. Alonso was blindsided, another insider added.

This tells us two things. For one, even executives with positions near the top aren’t safe from the axe. Secondly, it tells us that the super woke are being led to the chopping block. Alonso was an avid social justice advocate who made bizarre moves such as trying to eliminate the term “X-Men” due to it being “outdated” and declaring that “diversity and inclusion” was not a “political game” to Marvel. Alonso was the one who promised that Marvel would get a big infusion of LGBT characters as well.

Disney definitely has a problem with the number of politically radical activists infecting its ranks. Not only has the ideology infected its movies and television shows to the point of being unwatchable, but its hubris in its leftism also led it into a war with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which it promptly lost, costing the company its tax haven in Florida.

Its commitment to leftist politics also led to the unfair firing of fan-favorite Gina Carano from “The Mandalorian,” further souring the relationship between the company and its customers.

While there are plenty of factors that have led to Disney losing nearly half its market value, its decision to force politics on America’s children is what primarily cost it its audience. If you’re a savvy business leader, your first goal would be to take a knife and begin cutting out the infected tissue that’s causing the body to fail. This means eliminating people who adhere to social justice politics such as Alonso.

And if Alonso wasn’t safe, then you can bet there are a myriad of people making Disney the toxic brand it is that are sweating right now.

We will know if Disney is serious about getting back to its roots and away from politics by the end of April after the great bloodletting has been completed, but the firing of Alonso is a good sign of things to come for the company and that isn’t something that’s been said about Disney in some time.

Inflation Cools in February as Federal Reserve Weighs Options After Bank Failures

March 14, 2023 by Joe Cunningham Leave a Comment

The Consumer Price Index numbers are out for February, and once again the numbers do look good on the inflation front. But that good news comes on the heels of a multi-bank failure that could threaten the Federal Reserve’s plan to continue interest rate hikes to continue fighting inflation.

CPI shows inflation grew 6 percent annually in February, down from 6.4 percent in January. It’s a promising sign for an economy that has had its ups and downs – though certainly more ups in recent weeks. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices from the measurement, was up 5.5 percent annually in February versus 5.6 percent in January.

More from the Wall Street Journal:

Prices rose 0.4% in February over the prior month versus a 0.5% increase in January. Core prices increased by 0.5% in February compared with a 0.4% monthly gain in January.
Consumers paid less last month to heat their homes, and prices for medical services and used cars fell as well. Gasoline and food prices both increased, but at a slower pace than they did in January. Shelter costs increased 0.8% over the month.

These signs would point to the Federal Reserve keeping its aggressive rate hikes going – probably at half a percent at their meeting next week – but recent financial crises at multiple banks could give them pause.

Year-over-year inflation has cooled from a recent peak last June, but has remained stubbornly high. That combined with a strong labor market and solid consumer spending introduced the possibility that the Fed could raise its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage-point at its March 21-22 meeting, after opting for a smaller increase in early February. But the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other financial institutions in recent days complicated that decision. The central bank may move more cautiously to assess the state of the financial system.

The Fed’s goal of getting inflation at or below 2 percent is their overriding concern, but fears that their aggressive rate hikes could be breaking the financial industry are causing panic in the marketplace. However, it seems like stock market believes the situation is pretty well contained, as there hasn’t been a major crash yet for the major banks.

Yesterday’s run on First Republic bank appears to have been largely due to a large number of tech industry accounts at the bank. But the big firms are not showing any signs of crisis, and First Republic has regained a lot of value at the opening bell this morning.

NOW: First Republic Bank surges 61% at open as record rout eases https://t.co/zJZ2CWLXgp pic.twitter.com/7o42PvcKyE
— Bloomberg (@business) March 14, 2023

That may be enough to keep the Fed on track to raise the interest rate by half a percent, rather than slowing down to just a quarter point.

Wage growth is showing signs of slowing down, according to the most recent jobs report. And while the economy did impress with more than 300,000 jobs created, that was a major slowdown from the half a million jobs created in January, pointing to a cooling on the labor side of the market – all of which is in line with what the Fed wants to see.