Hollywood executives are reportedly hesitant about taking a public stance against the Supreme Court’s expected reversal of Roe v. Wade as they look to avoid the kind of public relations disaster the Walt Disney Co. is currently experiencing after it picked a fight with Florida.
Studio and talent agency executives, who lean overwhelmingly to the left, have become “much more nervous” when it comes to responding to politically divisive issues, including abortion, according to a report from The Wrap.
The firestorm Disney is going through over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law has become a Hollywood cautionary tale and a template of what not to do in the case of the abortion debate.
“If the states decide after the Supreme Court ruling [to ban abortion], it’s going to be hard as a studio to say, ‘We’re not going to do business there.’ We’re not going to do business in half the country? A studio’s job is not to divide and conquer, like politics. A studio’s job is to aggregate as many people as they can,” Howard Bragman, a crisis PR veteran, told TheWrap.
TheWrap said it reached out to all the major studios about their positions on the pending Supreme Court ruling, including whether they would consider relocating productions or cover travel expenses for employees in those states who may seek abortions. None responded to a request for comment except Sony, which had no comment.
That doesn’t mean Hollywood executives aren’t livid about the forthcoming ruling.
Insiders told TheWrap that female creatives and executives at the highest levels across the industry are “outraged” and have real “fury” in response to the leaked draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion.
In recent years, Hollywood studios have threatened to boycott production in Georgia and North Carolina over the fetal heartbeat bill and the transgender bathroom law, respectively.
To @BrianKempGA & Speaker Ralston:
Attached, is an open letter signed by 50 actors against #HB481. On behalf of the undersigned–as people often called to work in GA or those of us contractually bound to work in GA–we hope you'll reconsider signing this bill. #HBIsBadForBusiness pic.twitter.com/DsOmAWYU2x— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) March 28, 2019
But the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling poses a much different challenge for the studios since it impacts all 50 states.
As Breitbart News reported, corporate CEO’s in industries beyond entertainment are growing increasingly wary of taking left-wing political positions following Disney’s debacle in Florida.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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