Disney heir Abigail Disney has spoken out over Twitter after the company furloughed 100,000 workers while reportedly protecting its executive bonus schemes.
Disney – a filmmaker and the granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy Disney – took to the social media platform after an article published by the Financial Times revealed that The Walt Disney Company would stop paying roughly half of its workforce.
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The decision to stop paying workers during coronavirus closures leaves theme park and hotel employees relying on state benefits to get by during the crisis, which, in states such as Disney World’s Florida, can be as low as $275 a week for 12 weeks.
Despite the cuts, the company still plans to protect its executive bonus schemes. According to the Financial Times, the company has yet to comment on its 2020 dividend plan, which usually includes semi-annual payments worth around $1.5 billion.
Abigail Disney took to Twitter to criticise the company’s decision in a thread that spanned 25 tweets.
OK, I've been holding my tongue on the theory that a pandemic is no time to be calling people out on anything other than failing us in a public health sense. I thought it might be a moment for peace and reconciliation. But I feel a thread coming on….1/ https://t.co/G1mUq7RmAV
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
“This is why I was quiet in March when executives at the company made a big pr push to…Call attention to the fact that they were giving up a portion of their salaries for the year,” wrote Disney.
“I told people to wait until we heard about the rest of the compensation package, since salary is a drop in the bucket to these guys.”
Disney, who no longer has a role at the company, called out executive chairman Bob Iger for earning more than 900 times the median Disney salary.
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“I’m just a citizen who cares and I think that makes me free to say what I believe,” wrote Disney.
“But I am an heir. And I do carry this name with me everywhere. And I have a conscience which makes it very difficult for me to…sit by when I see abuses taking place with that name attached to them. This isn’t all that hard. This isn’t all that complicated. Just give up SOME of your already ample compensation, especially this year. Give up, god forbid two or three basis points on the annual return.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
