Several senior-level Black women executives no longer hold their positions at some of Hollywood’s biggest companies like Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and more. And now those same studios may be called to the carpet about it.
For context, at least five women have either been let go or resigned from their roles in senior leadership including Karen Horne, Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, North America (Warner Bros.); Vernā Myers, VP of Inclusion, Strategy (Netflix); Jeanell English, Executive Vice President of Impact and Inclusion (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences); LaTondra Newton, Chief Diversity Officer (Disney); Terra Potts, EVP Worldwide Marketing (Warner Bros.).
These exits happened within a month of each other—specifically between May 30 and June 30—and just before the Supreme Court made their shocking decision to essentially roll back affirmative action in higher education institutions—which sounded a major alarm for those in that industry and in Hollywood.
As a result of that ruling, the California State Legislature’s recent approval of the $1.6 billion Film Tax Credit initiative that will provide tax incentives for film studios, and the recent exec exits, the California Legislative Black Caucus has come together to demand a meeting with the aforementioned studios to get to the bottom of why they let go of some of their top players.
“One executive removal could be a fluke,” said Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas during the press conference on Thursday, according to NBC News. “But four more? And we’re hearing more are to come. This is a troubling pattern. A pattern that suggests diversity, equity and inclusion is no longer a priority at the highest levels of the film industry, where decisions are made and institutional change happens.”
A fight against DEI initiatives and leadership roles should be the last thing these studios should be trying to do seeing as how they’re already absurdly fighting against the WGA and SAG-AFTRA because they refuse to give them a fair, equitable deal.