Warner Bros. Discovery dropping the "D" and "E" but keeping the "I"

Warner Bros. Discovery is the latest to adjust to President Donald Trump's policies.

Warner Bros. Discovery dropping the
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No more D.E.I. at W.B.D. Like other major Hollywood studios, the company is changing things up to “make sure we continue to comply with the evolving legal landscape in the United States and around the world,” per a memo sent to staffers on Thursday (via The Hollywood Reporter). But Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t doing away with its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives entirely. It’s just tweaking the language. 

“Our overarching work in this space will now be referred to as Inclusion, which [WBD exec Asif Sadiq’s] team will continue to oversee. Making this change better aligns our language with our focus throughout our company, in our industry, and across our content,” the memo stated. “Our success absolutely depends on having a team that’s truly diverse, reflects all perspectives, and has a culture where our employees feel valued and respected. These have always been our values and that won’t ever change.”

Swapping the name to trick the idiot bureaucrat in charge into thinking there had been a substantial change and then continuing on with business as usual sounds like something that would happen on The Office, but that’s a different studio. Anyway, the memo did indicate some actual changes, like “a uniform and consistent application process across our talent programs” and discontinuing third party workplace surveys. That echoes some of the changes Paramount announced yesterday; the company said it would no longer have staffing goals related to race, gender, or ethnicity, and that it would stop collecting gender and diversity data from applicants. However, WBD reaffirmed its commitment to the recruiting and training processes it has in place, and the memo also said it would continue to collect data internally. Regardless of how significant the changes are, it’s another clear signal that major companies are caving quickly to the new administration’s whims.

 
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