Disney Drops DEI Terminology From Annual Report for First Time in 5 Years

The move comes amid a federal probe into the company’s diversity practices and investor scrutiny.

Entrance to The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif. JHVEPhoto/Shuttertock

The Walt Disney Co. has removed the terms related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) almost entirely from its annual report to U.S. securities regulators for the first time in at least five years, even as the company faces an investigation into its DEI policies and pressure from investors after a disappointing quarter.

In Disney’s 2025 Form 10-K filed on Nov. 14, the words “diversity,” “inclusion,” “DEI,” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion” do not appear at all, according to a review of the filing. The word “equity” appears roughly 130 times, but only in a financial sense, such as shareholder equity and equity investments.

By contrast, the company’s 2024 annual filing included a dedicated section on diversity, equity and inclusion and repeatedly referenced DEI initiatives across its businesses.

The only clear nod to themes once grouped under DEI appears in the 2025 report’s “Human Capital” section, which describes broader workplace culture without using the now-politicized acronym.

“The company seeks to attract, retain, and develop the highest quality talent,” Disney said in the filing, citing training, leadership development, benefits, and internal mobility programs. Its human resources programs are meant to “enhance the company’s culture through efforts aimed at making the workplace more engaging and inclusive” and “reward and support employees through competitive pay, benefit and perquisite programs.”

The filing highlights employee volunteerism and philanthropy, including matching gifts and the Disney VoluntEARS program, as part of a broader “social impact” strategy. But unlike in past years, the report does not feature DEI branding or spell out related initiatives, as was the case in the past five years of company communications.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Disney for comment on the omission of DEI terminology in the 2025 filing and whether it reflects a change in company policy or simply a shift in how those efforts are described.

The first time explicitly DEI-related terms began to appear in Disney’s annual filings was in the 2020 Form 10-K, with mention of “diversity and inclusion (D&I)” and initiatives such as championing “targeted development programs for underrepresented talent” and sponsoring over 70 employee groups based on various diversity criteria.

Shift Follows FCC Probe Into Disney’s DEI Practices

The change in language comes months after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr ordered a probe into whether Disney’s DEI policies at ABC and related entities violate federal equal employment opportunity rules.

“I have asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation into Disney and ABC,” Carr wrote in a March 27 letter to CEO Bob Iger, saying he wanted to ensure the companies were not “violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

Carr’s letter cited Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative, which sought to “amplify underrepresented voices,” and said ABC had imposed “inclusion standards” that required 50 percent of recurring and regular characters to come from “underrepresented groups.” Those standards, he wrote, may have effectively pushed “racial and identity quotas into every level of production,” including writers, directors, crew and vendors.

The letter also pointed to race-based fellowship programs, hiring databases organized by identity, and potential links between executive bonuses and DEI performance, warning that such practices could run afoul of the Communications Act and FCC rules that bar discrimination based on race, color, gender, age, national origin, or religion.

“Although your company recently made some changes to how it brands certain efforts, it is not clear that the underlying policies have changed in a fundamental manner—nor that past practices complied with relevant FCC regulations,” Carr wrote. “I want to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name.”

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, Disney said it was reviewing the FCC’s letter and corporate leaders “look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions.”

The probe fits into a broader push by the Trump administration to dismantle DEI programs across the federal government and discourage race- and sex-based preferences in corporate America. A number of large companies, including Ford, McDonald’s, John Deere, Walmart, Nissan, Toyota, Molson Coors, Citibank, and Meta, have announced rollbacks or rebranding of DEI initiatives in recent months, citing legal and policy changes.

Stock Slides as Revenue Disappoints

Disney’s quieter treatment of DEI in its annual report comes as the company works to convince Wall Street that its turnaround strategy is on track.

Shares fell nearly 8 percent on Thursday and extended those losses by another 1.8 percent in intraday trading on Friday after the company reported roughly flat fourth-quarter revenue of $22.46 billion, missing analyst expectations. remove

Segment operating income fell 5 percent, to $3.48 billion, weighed down by weakness in the traditional television and movie businesses.

Naveen Athrapully contributed to this report.