Disney to Take $1.5 Billion Content Write-Off Charge in June Quarter After Pulling Dozens of Titles From Streaming Services

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Zenia Mucha, who spent two decades as Disney’s top spokesperson before leaving the company in 2021, has been hired at TikTok. She’ll serve in the newly formed role of chief brand and communications officer and will be responsible for TikTok’s global marketing and communications strategies. Mucha’s hiring is part of a larger shakeup at TikTok. Vanessa Pappas is stepping down as the company’s chief operating officer and Adam Presser, the current chief of staff, has been promoted to head of operations. “Given all the successes reached at TikTok, I finally feel the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions,” Pappas said in a note to staff.  “I know the company has a very bright and stable future under the strong leadership of Shou Chew and our executive team, I will be here to support him, the leadership team and all of you during this transition by taking on an advisory role for the company.”

Latondra Newton, who has served as Disney’s chief diversity officer since 2017, is leaving the company. An internal memo from Disney chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman announcing Newton’s departure was circulated to staff Tuesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney’s chief diversity officer and senior vice president Latondra Newton is exiting her role after more than six years, according to an internal memo obtained by Variety. An individual with knowledge of the situation says that Newton will be joining the corporate board of another company soon, and plans to devote more time to her self-owned creative company. In her role as head of DEI operations at Disney, Newton was charged with overseeing the company’s “commitment to produce entertainment that reflects a global audience and sustains a welcoming and inclusive workplace for everyone.”

Earnings calls, those ritualized quarterly opportunities for public companies to convey the state of their financial affairs to Wall Street analysts and investors at large, are two-handed affairs for the Walt Disney Co.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.While McCarthy’s husband has been in a healthcare facility since early this year, a person familiar with her situation told the Journal there have been no dramatic changes recently that would drive her to step down. But there were signs of strife coming from the CFO’s office before the House of Mouse announced Thursday that she’d be leaving that were perhaps buried in the glowing comments that accompanied the announcement of her depature.“Christine McCarthy is one of the most admired financial executives in America, and her impact on The Walt Disney Company during 23 years of dedicated service cannot be overstated,” CEO Bob Iger said in a statement Thursday.Yet the Journal reported that McCarthy has butted heads with Iger since he returned as CEO in November and other top execs over the media and entertainment giant’s restructuring strategy.

Christine McCarthy, a significant figure in Disney’s senior management team in recent years, is stepping down and taking a medical leave of absence from the company.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In another shocker for the Walt Disney Co., Christine McCarthy is stepping down from her role as executive VP and chief financial officer and will take a family medical leave, Disney said Thursday. Kevin Lansberry has been named interim CFO for the media giant as of July 1. “Christine McCarthy is one of the most admired financial executives in America, and her impact on The Walt Disney Company during 23 years of dedicated service cannot be overstated,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said. “Christine has served as a key strategic anchor during a period of great transformation, and she and I have discussed her desire to ensure an orderly and successful CFO succession in advance of the company’s transition to its next chief executive officer. She is stepping down from her CFO role as she takes family medical leave, but has graciously offered to move into an advisory position to assist her successor in assuming the duties she has so expertly handled these many years.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is undertaking a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division, laying off about 200 staffers. Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s VP, head of podcast business, announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Monday that was shared publicly. The 200 employees represents about 2% of the audio streamer’s worldwide workforce. The layoffs come after Spotify cut 6% of its total headcount earlier this year and saw the exit of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who had previously headed Spotify’s podcast business “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better. However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter. As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger appeared at Apple’s WWDC 2023 event Monday to bolster the reveal of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro augmented reality headset that is due for release in 2024. There, it was revealed that Disney+ will be coming to the headset’s roster of launch-window apps.“We’re so proud to yet again be partnering the greatest storytelling company in the world with the most innovative technology company in the world to bring you real life magic,” Iger said, alongside a sizzle reel for Disney+ on Vision Pro that hinted at a three-dimensional, more immersive experience for viewers than those viewing the streamer on a standard screen.

Apple may have entered the virtual reality arena earlier today with the unveiling of a new platform and headset, launched with the help of Disney boss Bob Iger, but in the real world it spent the day being targeted by writers.

Reuters reported Saturday.Angus MacLane, director of the unsuccessful “Toy Story” spinoff and a 26-year animation veteran who was part of the creative team behind hits like “Toy Story 4” and “Coco,” was included in the cuts. Gayln Susman, a producer on the film who had been at Pixar since 1995, was also removed from her role.TheWrap has reached out to Pixar for further comment.“Lightyear” grossed just over $226 million worldwide at the box office when it was released last June, but cost $200 million to produce.

Disney made it official with an SEC filing after the markets closed Friday, saying it would take $1.5 billion in write-downs associated with removing streaming programming from its platforms.

2ND UPDATE, 5:20 PM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today won a victory in his legal skirmishes with the Walt Disney Company — but not for the reasons he wanted to.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Disney+ is now streaming the first four Indiana Jones movies, starring Harrison Ford as the legendary snake-hating archeologist action hero. The media company is looking to whip up interest in the theatrical release of the franchise’s fifth and final installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Starting May 31, Disney+ subscribers can stream “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” as well as the TV series “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.” The upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this month, opens exclusively in theaters June 30; Disney hasn’t announced a premiere date for the film on Disney+.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the two media and entertainment giants want to reach a deal to resolve the ownership of Hulu, but the disagreement over how much the nation’s fifth-largest streaming service is worth is stalling progress. Neither Disney nor Comcast responded to requests for comment.Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu, while Comcast owns one-third, acquired when it took control of one of the streamer’s founding backers, NBCUniversal, in 2011.

EXCLUSIVE: The layoffs impacting thousands of Disney staff in the U.S. have spread to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

EXCLUSIVE: The third wave of layoffs at Disney got under way today, sources tell Deadline.

Disney+ is set to remove a number of movies, TV series and specials from the streaming service at the end of the month — you can find the full list of titles below.The decision was first announced on May 10 during a Disney earnings call, and now all of the impacted titles have been revealed.

first reported, comes just a week after the entertainment giant announced during its quarterly earnings call its plans to remove “certain content” from its streaming platforms in a cost-cutting move.“We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said during the call.McCarthy also unveiled Disney’s plans to “produce lower volumes of content,” marking a strategic shift from the company’s original goal to flood “the so-called digital shelves” when Disney+ launched three and a half years ago. While Bob Iger explained this plan’s intent to push along subscriber growth, the Disney boss noted during the earnings call that the company “realized that we made a lot of content that is not necessarily driving sub growth.”The former strategic plan also left marketing spending to be “spread so thin,” according to the Disney head, who noted that the company would be more “surgical” in content decisions rather than “spending a lot of money marketing things that are not going to have an impact on the bottom line.” Instead, Iger noted that freeing up these budgetary constraints would enable Disney to focus on tentpole projects that are “great” subscription drivers, including “Avatar,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

Disney seems to be following a similar strategy as HBO Max and other streaming services that have removed content to take a write off.