Awk–ward: AP Reports Mickey Mouse Will be Able to ‘Hug’ Again as Conservatives Accuse Disney of ‘Grooming’ Children
Amid furor over Disney’s decision to choose a side in a culture war battle, the Associated Press reported on Monday that Mickey Mouse will be able to “hug” again at Disney locations after two years of Covid restrictions. That includes Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The news comes as conservatives nationwide accuse the company of “grooming” children.
Disney ignited a firestorm last week when it announced it would stand against Florida’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” bill.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed the bill into law, which forbids teachers from speaking about sexual orientation or gender identity to students from kindergarten to third grade.
Critics have called it the “Don’t Say Gay” law, and Disney has come out strongly against it.
“Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” Disney said.
In addition to the statement opposing the new law in Florida, conservative journalist Christopher Rufo recently released a pair of videos in which Disney employees spoke about making characters more diverse.
SCOOP: I’ve obtained video from inside Disney’s all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and is regularly “adding queerness” to children’s programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, “as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child,” she supports having “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories” and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. pic.twitter.com/oFRUiuu9JG
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Amid all the other drama, four Disney employees were among more than 100 people who were arrested and accused of sex trafficking in Florida two weeks ago.
4 Disney employees arrested in Polk County human trafficking campaign, deputies say pic.twitter.com/RpbFZBX2Ck
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 16, 2022
The battle lines have been drawn, and conservatives have lashed out at those who have inherited Walt Disney’s empire.
One common allegation is the company is “grooming” children for gender reassignment or potentially nefarious activities.
Just a reminder that Disney has a major pedo employee problem. https://t.co/bJysnrJeUs
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 28, 2022
Congress must refuse to renew a law that should never have been passed. Disney wants to groom your children, take away their ability to do so. https://t.co/dxjDZB4ZGx
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 30, 2022
What she saying is Disney employees pedophiles and it opposes a law designed to make it more difficult for pedophiles to groom your kids and she’s wondering if those two facts are connected. https://t.co/z5SijIYYVv
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) March 16, 2022
Both sides appear to be dug in for a fight in the third year of a global pandemic, which the AP reminded Twitter on Tuesday night had prevented Mickey Mouse — Disney’s most iconic character — from hugging people at parks.
Those hugs will soon return.
Mickey Mouse will soon be able to hug again. Pandemic restrictions that separated costumed characters from visitors at Disney parks in the U.S. are being relaxed. https://t.co/LB3uFge0r1
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 6, 2022
The tweet shared ill-timed news, and probably sent the head of some recently-graduated social media manager spinning.
Reactions to the post are exactly the kind of two-way vitriol you would expect.
