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Leaked Videos Make Broad Claims Against Disney’s Hiring Practices and LGBTQ+ Outreach, but Should You Believe Them?

About three weeks ago, a video dropped showing Twentieth Century Television Senior Vice President Michael Giordano telling his “date” that there are hiring quotas at The Walt Disney Company, and as a white man, he has been passed over for promotions.

Since then, James O’Keefe and his O’Keefe Media Group have released two more videos. In total, the three videos have alleged that The Walt Disney Company does not promote white men, only encourages white men to upper-level executive positions, and that Disney has a secret LGBTQ+ agenda in its movies and television shows.

A man in a black shirt sits on a bench beside a bronze statue of Walt Disney. The man points or gestures in conversation with a woman in a sleeveless blue dress facing him. Another person in a green shirt and cap holds a camera, appearing to capture the meeting.
Bob Iger and Walt the Dreamer Statue. Credit: @TokyoDisneycrum on X

Related: Disney Executive Caught on Tape: ‘There’s No Way We’re Hiring a White Man’

These videos are part of a more significant effort by right-wing “media” to support its claims that Disney discriminates against whites and is “grooming” children.

However, outside of a few conservative media outlets and outlets that cover Disney, these stories have not gained traction with the mainstream media.

So, what’s the point? Disney has not commented on the videos, and nearly everyone has decided on Disney regardless of the videos.

Let’s look at what the videos exposed, who’s doing it, and what they hope to gain.

A man in a suit and tie is standing next to a large Mickey Mouse mascot wearing a black tuxedo with a yellow bow tie. Mickey Mouse is smiling and waving, while the man has a neutral expression. The background is blurred, suggesting an indoor event or venue.
Credit: Inside the Magic

Related: Senator Tells Disney to Lawyer Up After Leaked Exec Video Claims Company Doesn’t Hire ‘White Men’

The Videos

In all three videos, the executives believed that they were on dates. The O’Keefe Media Group met them on online dating sites, and while on the dates, they exposed some of Disney’s secrets to their “dates.”

The first video shows Twentieth Century Television Senior Vice President Michael Giordano talking to an unknown person about the hiring practices at The Walt Disney Company.

https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1803843934516351395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1803843934516351395%7Ctwgr%5E824e2e218ac3b8e495d4b2161170f5459f6d5a81%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidethemagic.net%2F2024%2F06%2Fsenator-lee-disney-lawyers-vp-video-not-hiring-white-men-rl1%2F

Related: Leaked Video Forces Disney Exec Out of the Company

Michael Giordano’s comments are only a few minutes in the video, with some intermittent reactions; however, Giordano says some damaging things about Disney’s hiring practices and inclusion policies.

Certainly, there have been times where, you know, there’s no way we’re hiring a white man for this…. There are times when it’s spoken. 

Reporter: How would they say it?

There’s no way we’re hiring a white man for this role. They’d be very careful how they’d message that to agents. 

Giordano says that Disney CEO Bob Iger “100 percent” has a say in ensuring diversity in casting on Disney’s shows and movies. While it is not a directive from Bob Iger, he says there should be “a certain amount of diversity” in each show.

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1805695344681824318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1805695344681824318%7Ctwgr%5E99551208a83495b44c5eac0bad90c9ec6cd4927d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidethemagic.net%2F2024%2F06%2Fjames-okeefe-second-video-disney-only-hiring-white-jewish-executives-rl1%2F

Related: Second Explosive Leaked Video Catches Another Disney Exec Saying Company Only Hires ‘White Jewish Men’ As Upper Management

The second video shows Walt Disney Television’s Director of Production/Finance, Sohrab “Dave” Makker, on what appears to be a date, being taped saying that The Walt Disney Company would not hire anyone as a “C-Suite” executive who is not “white or Jewish.”

Makker said:

There’s also a slight glass ceiling at Disney, you know. I feel like there’s a glass ceiling. It’s not quite like in reach yet. You’re not going to get a CFO, I guess for lack of a better word, a non-white, non-Jewish.

So, I feel, and that being said, the two department heads are two Jewish men. It’s not that I have anything against Jewish men. I’m just saying that she, people of color felt that and she quit. Because she just said I can’t seem to like him. 

Makker was referring to a colleague of his who was a Hispanic woman who left the company because she felt that there was no room for advancement with Disney because she was “not man enough.”

The third video shows Walt Disney’s Creative Marketing Director Amit Gurnani. He says, “I’d love to get a drag queen at Disneyland. I’m sure that would happen at some point.”

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1808579938158850201

Related: ‘Journalis’ Set Up Disney Exec in Leaked Video Breaking California Law

He also said that Disney CEO Bob Iger has embraced LGBTQ+ content.

O’Keefe has promised that there will be more videos like these. However, no releases have been made since July 3.

All three men in the videos have removed themselves from social media, and Giordano has taken a leave of absence from Walt Disney Co.

Who is James O’Keefe?

James O’Keefe has been known for his heavily edited videos that were meant to embarrass and humiliate his subjects throughout his career. He first came to the public’s attention in 2008 when he worked on a video involving Planned Parenthood.

The video was shot over several sessions, in which a woman working for O’Keefe posed as a 15-year-old girl looking for an abortion. O’Keefe edited out parts of the video that included the doctors telling the woman to “consult her mother” and that the clinic had to “obey the law.”

Bob Iger superimposed in front of the Disney Pictures logo
Credit: Disney

2009, O’Keefe targeted the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). In his heavily edited videos, he misrepresented the organization’s purpose and how it got voters to the polls.

O’Keefe targeted ACORN for much the same reason he targeted Disney and Planned Parenthood: they are left-leaning organizations. ACORN was known for its massive voter registration programs in primarily low-income areas.

After the videos were released, Congress stripped ACORN of its funding, and the organization nearly went bankrupt. However, the California State’s Attorney General’s Office found that no one at ACORN had broken any laws and that O’Keefe’s video misrepresented the facts.

One of the fired workers sued O’Keefe, and he was forced to pay $100,000 and issue an apology.

Shortly after the ACORN videos, O’Keefe started Project Veritas, whose mission was to “expose corruption.” Project Veritas was privately funded through donations, including one from Donald Trump.

Former president Donald Trump stands at a podium with his name on it, looking to the side, at a rally with supporters in red hats visible in the background, similar to themes discussed on The View.
Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr

In 2023, O’Keefe was removed from Project Veritas by its board for financial malfeasance with the donor’s money. After exiting Project Veritas, O’Keefe started the O’Keefe Media Group and began targeting the Walt Disney Co.

What’s Happens Now?

The short answer is: Nothing. Disney cannot comment on the videos or their content as the company faces a lawsuit over its hiring practices.

Earlier this year, Stephen Miller, Former Adviser to President Donald Trump and his American First Legal, filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that The Walt Disney Company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964. This act bans employment discrimination by prohibiting companies from using race, color, religion, sex, or national origin merely as motivating factors for hiring, training, or promotions.

A family is gathered outdoors in a garden. An older man is reclining on a hammock. A poodle is standing near him. Around him are three women, one holding a baby and another wearing sunglasses and holding a toddler. A man is seated beside the poodle. There is a red wagon on the lawn.
Credit: The Walt Disney Family Museum

The former Donald Trump adviser sued The Walt Disney Company after an alleged document from the company showing Disney’s inclusion standards was leaked. The document shows the “underrepresented groups” ratio that must be included in Disney’s films, creative leadership, and behind-the-scenes roles.

Elon Musk originally leaked the document that Stephen Miller and America First Legal use on X (formerly Twitter). Musk released the documents shortly after X and Gina Carano announced they were suing Disney over Carano’s firing from the Star Wars show The Mandalorian.

The three Disney employees probably won’t comment either, as their careers are hanging in the balance.

As for O’Keefe, he has promised more videos and information about Disney’s DEI training and race-based hiring practices. However, with these videos, he may have broken California law.

A digital collage featuring mickey mouse and a news anchor superimposed in front of the u.s. capitol building under a blue sky.
Credit (Edit Inside the Magic)

California is a two-party consent state. So, you need someone’s permission to record them. You are allowed to record someone in public as long as it is not used for harassment purposes or defamation of character.

A lawyer for any of the three Disney employees could argue that the videos were harassment and defamation.

For now, every Disney employee who has been set up on a date through an online dating site is holding their breath. We wait to see what comes next, even though it will change very few people’s minds.

What do you think of the videos James O’Keefe has released? 

Rick Lye

Rick is an avid Disney fan. He first went to Disney World in 1986 with his parents and has been hooked ever since. Rick is married to another Disney fan and is in the process of turning his two children into fans as well. When he is not creating new Disney adventures, he loves to watch the New York Yankees and hang out with his dog, Buster. In the fall, you will catch him cheering for his beloved NY Giants.

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