Bracing For The Bloodbath: Disney Layoffs To Resume Monday

Story by Lynette Rice • Yesterday 1:28 p.m.






It was originally described as the “big one,” or even more pointedly, a straight-up “bloodbath.”

Either way, the lion’s share of layoffs at Disney are expected to begin Monday. From April 24-27, there will be Mouse House employees in film and TV losing their jobs every single day (except Friday), we hear. A rep for Disney declined comment.

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To say that anxiety is high is an understatement. Just about everyone who works on Buena Vista Street in Burbank is on high alert, wondering whether their number is up.

“There is a sense of foreboding that the cuts are going to be wide, large-scale and very meaningful,” an industry source said, noting how low company morale is right now amid persistent rumors that at least one person from each department would have to go.

The sweeping layoffs are among the first major moves for Bob Iger since his surprise return as Disney CEO in late November.

“It sucks, to be honest,” a longtime film exec at the company said. “Iger coming back got everyone’s hopes up for investment in people as well as creativity. Truth is if you’re not operating a ride at the parks, you could be on the chopping block. Maybe the worst part is still not knowing who is being let go, no matter how much time you put in.”

One employee even begged a Deadline reporter to find out if their job was safe.

“Pray 4 me,” another texted.

Iger confirmed in March that three rounds of layoffs would occur as the company looks to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 employees in an effort to to reach $5.5 billion in overall cost savings. The initial round came a few days before the company’s annual shareholder meeting April 3 and involved a consolidation of production operations across Disney TV Studios, Hulu, Freeform and FX and the shutdown of the studio operations’ Creative Acquisitions department. (A small business unit that was focused on exploring the metaverse was also axed.)

The second, much bigger wave of layoffs next week will get Disney close to the 7,000 goal, we hear. Virtually every Disney Entertainment entity — TV networks and studios and film studios — is expected to be affected in a significant way. According to sources, the various division heads were given cost targets. They translate to different percentages of the workforce for each unit, which could amount to 5%, to 10%, 15% and even more in some cases, we hear.

Network programming and studio marketing are believed to be among the areas that will take a hit this time, and there will be a new round of cuts at ABC News (which already underwent layoffs last month), sources said. The remnants of the dismantled Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution are an obvious target, too.

And then there is Hulu.

The parts of the company focused on streaming are particularly on edge given the mounting intrigue about Disney’s plans for Hulu, particularly since it contributed to overall losses in streaming of $1.5 billion in the most recent quarter. The company took full operational control of Hulu in 2019, but Comcast still has a 33% financial stake. In a “put/call” arrangement slated to take effect in early 2024, Disney can buy out Comcast, but Iger has recently said that “everything is on the table.” The agreement states that the minimum value of Hulu will be $27.5 billion at the time of a transaction. That means Disney would have to commit to shelling out at least $9 billion at the same time it is cutting staff and planning to restore its stock dividend after suspending it during Covid.

“Hulu will definitely be one place to watch with these cutbacks,” observes one high-level exec at another media company. “Since they took control, they have kept it U.S. only and managed it pretty conservatively, meaning it’s either going to get beamed up into Disney+ or they could just let it go entirely. My money’s on the former, but that means they could operate it a lot more efficiently.”

In one precursor of what could lie ahead, Joe Earley was upped this month from his role as president of Hulu to broader oversight of direct-to-consumer streaming at Disney Entertainment. Departing in that shuffle was Michael Paull, a onetime Amazon veteran whose six-year Disney run followed the company’s acquisition of BamTech, which Paull ran as CEO when it was owned by Major League Baseball. “There was zero room for Michael in the new structure,” one former Disney exec said.

ESPN, now one of three business units at the company — a new structure implemented under Iger after he re-took the controls from Bob Chapek — will also be under the microscope in terms of cutbacks. A major wrinkle: Disney and ESPN face a looming renewal of multibillion-dollar NBA rights. While there is consistent chatter of other top professional sports following the model of Major League Soccer’s venture with Apple, one exec who negotiates sports-rights deals says leagues would prefer maintaining the kind of cash flow they do with more traditional licensing deals.

“Why do you think MLB sold BamTech off in the first place? They didn’t want to be in the direct-to-consumer business,” the exec says. “For Disney, they put their chips into the middle of the table by bringing BamTech in. In this environment, though, they have to take another hard look at their costs in running all of that infrastructure as they look to keep cash available for rights.”

That “hard look” will likely cost veteran employees their jobs next week, with former longtime ESPN anchor Bonnie Bernstein lamenting the pending layoffs on Twitter.

“I love our industry. It’s brought so many amazing things to my life. But my heart aches for my friends at ESPN/Disney awaiting the next round of cuts,” she wrote. “Many have been there 20, 30 yrs. It’s all they know. The anxiety of ‘what’s next’ for lifers in any line of work… so tough.”

Dominic Patten contributed to this report.