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DEI Is Disappearing In Hollywood. Was It Ever Really Here?

As Trump cracks down on diversity and inclusion policies, studios are at a crossroads with some observers questioning how effective the benchmarks were to begin with.

Illustration by Jamey Christoph

Illustration by Jamey Christoph

If Hollywood’s answer to Donald Trump’s first months at the White House in 2017 was resistance, the 2025 edition so far appears more muted and a tad indifferent.

The Academy Awards eight years ago celebrated diversity as Trump implemented his “America First” vision for the country that thrusted actors and other talent onto the frontlines of the culture wars. Warren Beatty invoked politics in his presentation of the best picture nominees, observing that those movies, of which Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight emerged as the winner, “show us the increasing diversity in our community, and our respect for diversity and freedom all over the world.”

This time around, Trump and politics were almost entirely absent from the Oscars. The carefully-curated presentation stayed in line with other awards ceremonies keeping Washington at arm’s length from Hollywood, even as the administration cracks down on diversity initiatives hailed not too long ago as representing a much-needed step forward in getting films and TV series to more accurately reflect audiences worldwide. Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies has rattled companies across the industry.

In its latest filing to regulators, Disney scrubbed references to its “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative, which launched in 2021 with the purpose of amplifying underrepresented voices, and other employee development programs. And on March 3, Walt Disney Animation Studios officially pulled the plug on its Tiana princess series after doing the same for a transgender storyline in the Pixar original animated series Win or Lose, which will introduce an openly Christian character — a first for the studio in almost 20 years. 

Disney is not alone in retreating from DEI efforts. Amazon Studios quietly rolled back division-wide policies aimed at boosting diversity on its TV shows and films, including one that aspired to cast at least one Black, Latino, Indigenous, Middle Eastern or Asian character for speaking roles. This was followed by Paramount eliminating staffing goals tied to race, ethnicity and gender, and Warner Bros. Discovery announcing that it was opening up its talent pipeline programs to all applicants, among other decisions that include dropping the “D” and “E” in DEI. Some companies, like Apple Studios under its parent, maintain DEI but not in a potentially illegal fashion that involves hiring quotas or targets, which can be viewed as a form of discrimination. Still, adjustments are being contemplated. 

If you’re a minority, these programs are one of the few possible pathways to a career in Hollywood. Showrunner Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz (Gordita Chronicles) emphasizes the role that then-NBC’s Writers on the Verge, which was created in 2005 to prepare scribes from diverse backgrounds for careers in TV, had on her emergence in the industry. “It’s like winning the lottery — there’s not many spots, but they can help you get your foot in the door when you have no access otherwise.”

“I always recommend these programs to writers as a tool to break in,” says Muñoz-Liebowitz, who met Gordita Chronicles creator Claudia Forestieri, an alumna of the ABC Disney and HBOAccess writing programs, through the initiative. 

It’s unclear how these changes will impact the makeup of Hollywood. Diversity programs that require companies to hire applicants from certain racial or ethnic groups have been legally tenuous for years, but especially since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in a 2023 ruling that implicated race-conscious DEI initiatives in the private sector. There’s a reason why several of these policies no longer explicitly mention race, often using read-between-the-lines placeholders like “underrepresented” or “underserved” or “unique perspectives.” The studios’ responses to Trump’s war on DEI could either mean that they genuinely no longer intend to advance diversity, or it could just mean that they will continue to operate in the same way they have been but behind closed doors after making splashy announcements that DEI is dead.

“These companies are still dedicated to the work, but quietly and not as loud,” says Karen Horne, former WBD senior vp of DEI, who’s the architect of several talent pipeline programs in the industry.

One example: There are no plans to eliminate or change the Sundance Institute’s storied artist program for directors from historically excluded backgrounds, according to a person familiar with the situation. Under the initiative, filmmakers receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant, courtesy of Sundance and the Walt Disney Studios’ new Project Advancement and Completion Fund. Inaugural grantee Sean Wang was a recipient in 2023 for Dìdi, an Asian American coming-of-age story set in his Fremont, California, hometown.

Paramount also will continue to host several programs that could be billed as DEI, according to a person familiar with the situation. These initiatives, some of which seek applicants from “diverse backgrounds” but also accept straight white men, include the ViewFinder Emerging Directors Program and Supplier Diversity Program. 

But depending on whom you ask, DEI failed to lay out a path toward transforming Hollywood the way studios said it would after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, when protests against police brutality cornered leading entertainment companies to declare their support for diversity. The reckoning, it turned out, was short-lived. Over a 10-day stretch in 2023, four high-level DEI executives were ousted from their C-suite perches. 

It’s unclear whether most Americans will even miss DEI. A YouGov poll earlier this year found 45 percent favored ending DEI in school and government, with 40 percent opposed. In the private sector, the issue likely isn’t with the intent of these programs; It’s how they were constructed. Notice how several companies use the term “goal” or “target” and not “requirement” in the discussion tying staffing to diversity (hint: reverse discrimination).

The ability of these initiatives to withstand scrutiny (see “underrepresented” versus mentioning a specific race) made them, at best, well-intentioned but generic, and, at worst, toothless. Another example: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2020 implemented inclusion standards requiring movies to meet specific levels of diversity, but they are so easy to meet that virtually every title ever nominated for best picture in recent decades would have been eligible. 

The Black Lives Matter movement that rippled across Hollywood also coincided with the boom times, when studios were all too happy to throw money at showrunners in bids to grow their streaming platforms with original content. But amid industry contraction as Wall Street prioritizes profits, shows thought of as only targeting niche audiences have swiftly been axed. Now, studios are “looking for content that appeals to a wider, more general audience,” says an industry dealmaker. “A lot of people are starting to wonder why Hollywood doesn’t resonate with the rest of America.” 

There’s also the perception that the DEI push may have corrupted the intended goal of implementing fair hiring practices. Since 2022, America First Legal Foundation, a conservative group founded by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, has brought federal complaints against major companies, including Starbucks, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock, arguing that corporate diversity and hiring practices run afoul of civil rights laws. Last year, it targeted allegedly discriminatory hiring quotas at Disney, specifically a provision requiring that at least half of producer and writing staff come from underrepresented group. The group reps Brian Beneker, a script coordinator for SEAL Team, in a lawsuit against CBS Studios and its parent Paramount over alleged discrimination against straight white men. He alleged that he was repeatedly denied a staff writer job after the implementation of an “illegal policy of race and sex balancing” that promoted the hiring of “less qualified applicants who were members of more preferred groups,” namely those who identify as minorities, LGBTQ or women.

And many large companies — including media, entertainment and technology firms — are beginning to warn investors about the changing landscape.

The corporate law firm White & Case sent an alert to its public clients in January advising them of possible changes they should consider making ahead of their annual meetings. Citing the Trump administration’s policy objectives, it advised that “companies should carefully consider their HCM [human capital management] disclosures, including on DEI programs, initiatives and any DEI metrics, in order to ensure their disclosure is updated and aligned with their companies’ current priorities and policies.”

Indeed, many companies now are doing just that.

“There has been an increase in proposed or enacted ‘anti-ESG’ or ‘anti-DEI’ legislation, regulation, policies, enforcement priorities, directives, initiatives and legal opinions,” Paramount wrote in its latest 10-k annual report. “Conflicting regulations and requirements, and a lack of harmonization of legal and regulatory environments across the jurisdictions in which we operate, may create enhanced compliance risks and costs.” 

Warner Bros. Discovery similarly warned of the evolving landscape in its own annual report, and the company quietly ended its quarterly “DEI Digest,” which highlighted company initiatives on DEI matters. 

According to a March 4 report from ISS-Corporate, companies across the board are deemphasizing DEI in their proxies and annual reports. 

“DEI-related considerations will play a smaller role relative to recent years,” ISS-Corporate writes. “These considerations include the disclosure of diversity information in proxy statements, the use of diversity metrics in executive pay, and board diversity.” 

Perhaps no company epitomizes the fractured state of diversity rules than Pinterest, which warned shareholders in its annual report released Feb. 6: “If efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion are perceived as insufficient or overdone, we may not be able to attract and retain talent, we may be subject to investigations, litigation and other proceedings and our brand and reputation and stock price may be harmed,” the company wrote. 

That is the conundrum of the current environment: Too little DEI is a risk, but so is too much DEI.  

As Trump continues to crack down on DEI, it will be up to individual companies to gauge their tolerance for civil lawsuits and government investigations. There are no easy decisions. If the situations playing out within Paramount Global and Comcast, both of which have been targeted by government agencies, is any indication, they may opt to continue folding.

“Unless you’re a company that is federally funded, they can’t make you do anything to stop,” Horne says. “But you have to be aware that this is a vindictive administration.”

This story first appeared in the March 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Author: Winston Cho, Alex Weprin

Source: THR (The Hollywood Reporter)

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