Enraged diversity activists are pointing fingers at the entertainment industry, accusing them of “corporate blackface” and not experiencing sufficient “white guilt” after a string of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) executives have gotten the boot recently.

Much of this has to do with stock valuations and investors who seem to have lost their appetite for the progressive wokeness of DEI.

At least five executives who were in charge of DEI initiatives at leading entertainment companies have left their posts either on their own accord or were forced out. Those executives include Latondra Newton from Disney, Vernā Myers from Netflix, and Karen Horne from Warner Bros. Discovery. All of them are black women, according to Fox News.

The Los Angeles Times published a story on Tuesday that linked the departures directly to the backlash against “wokeness” by conservative politics and pundits. Leftists are beginning to speculate the job changes are a result of Americans’ response to the left’s diversity push.

Systems, institutions, and policies that privilege the few at the expense of the many operating as DESIGNED…this is why when asked by Black women my opinion about DEI roles I caution them that in most orgs they ARE performative AND expendable… https://t.co/UJaWyHpkEQ

— Kim Crayton ~ Antiracist Economist ~ She/Her ✊ (@KimCrayton1) July 1, 2023

Spooked corporate officers dramatically cut references to ESG and DEI initiatives amid growing backlash: report https://t.co/Xbk6HSKdsz pic.twitter.com/lloQZEgKVv

— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) June 17, 2023

The title of the piece is “High-profile exits spark fears that Hollywood diversity pledges are just ‘PR,'” and it highlights the fear growing on the left that maybe they have pushed the whole DEI initiative too far. It cites a number of furious equity activists who are bluntly accusing Hollywood of making insincere commitments to diversity and racial justice programs for “PR” purposes following the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020.

“Numerous diversity-centered initiatives were established. More transparency around issues of race was assured. But companies have since begun to scale back such commitments and, in some cases, employees dedicated to diversity initiatives, leading some insiders and advocates to fear that the doors to more opportunities once again have been slammed shut,” the LA Times story lamented.

“2020 was the year that we were definitely making strides — but there wasn’t any strategy, there wasn’t any plan,” Kim Crayton, who is the self-described “anti-racist economist” and author of the book “Profit Without Oppression,” told the LA Times in an interview. “It was a PR moment — corporate blackface … I told people at the time: ‘White guilt isn’t going to last.’”

They are losing billions because of your precious DEI. Hint, the constitution does not include the words, equity, inclusion or diversity. Those words are antithetical to our American belief system. The constitution does include Liberty, Justice, and Equality.

— Margaret AU Grad 1776 (@AUMargaret89) July 12, 2023

The founding executive director of the NAACP Hollywood Bureau, Vic Bulluck, called the executive exits “frightening” in the LA Times piece.

“Hollywood seems to be sending a message that these programs that were designed to give more access to African Americans are no longer needed,” he carped.

Activists such as Paula Madison, who is a former chief diversity officer of NBCUniversal, are blaming the companies for the lack of “actual accomplishments” on the DEI front, not the executives who have been axed over the situation.

“Billions of dollars were committed,” she remarked. “What have been the actual accomplishments? Very little, if anything. So here we are. Now these companies say they’re ‘reorganizing, rethinking and taking a hard look.’ They say they are not pulling away from their commitments. No, they’re not — but they didn’t really have much of a commitment in the first place.”

Maybe they are looking after the interests of their investors and their consumers rather that the WOKE agenda of a few activists.

— Phil Kessack (@dilligas77) July 12, 2023

The article talks of “burnout” among the executives because they were unable to “transform their organization’s culture.”

Crayton whined that the departures are because many of the female diversity chiefs were too busy “navigating white people’s feelings” to do their jobs.

“If you don’t have the autonomy, the resources, or the authority to make changes, it won’t work,” she told the LA Times in her interview. “Many of these women spend the majority of their time navigating white people’s feelings — and you cannot do the work if you have to do that.”

so make sure you get that bag because (1) you won’t have the authority, autonomy, or resources to make a difference (2) you’ll need it when they shift “strategy”

No one should be surprised by this

— Kim Crayton ~ Antiracist Economist ~ She/Her ✊ (@KimCrayton1) July 1, 2023

“Systems, institutions, and policies that privilege the few at the expense of the many operating as DESIGNED… this is why when asked by black women my opinion about DEI roles I caution them that in most orgs they ARE performative AND expendable,” she tweeted.

The piece’s stance ruffled the feathers of Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery. The companies reportedly claimed that their commitments to diversity and inclusion are “genuine and have not wavered,” according to Fox News.

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