Is It a Reprimand for the 'Black Little Mermaid'? Disney Diversity Chief Resigns

'Blackwashing' Controversy Leads to Box Office Flop
Latinx Actor Cast as Snow White Role

Latondra Newton, Disney's Chief Diversity Officer and Senior Vice President, is leaving the company.

According to major foreign media on the 21st (local time), Newton's resignation came less than a week after Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, announced the resignation of CFO Christine McCarthy. Newton's duties will be temporarily led by Julie Merzges, Senior Vice President in charge of talent acquisition.

In the Disney live-action musical film "The Little Mermaid," actress Halle Bailey plays the role of the Little Mermaid.
[Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

Newton has led Disney's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives since 2017. He has worked with various teams to produce entertainment content that reflects the diversity of global audiences and to maintain a welcoming and inclusive workplace environment for all.

However, Disney faced so-called "Black Washing" controversy when it cast Halle Bailey, an African American singer and actress, as the lead character Ariel in the recently released Disney film "The Little Mermaid."

Black Washing is a term contrasting with "White Washing," a practice of prioritizing white actors in American films and dramas. It sarcastically refers to the trend of indiscriminately including Black and other people of color in works under the guise of pursuing racial diversity.

Some question whether Disney, which promotes Political Correctness (PC), took disciplinary personnel actions in response to the Black Washing controversy. Disney has not responded to requests for comments from foreign media.

The controversy is expected to continue as Latinx actress Rachel Zegler is set to play the lead role of Snow White in Disney's upcoming live-action film "Snow White," scheduled for release next year.

The Particularly Poor Performance of "The Little Mermaid" in the Global Market

Controversy continues as Latin actress Rachel Zegler has been cast as the lead role of Snow White in Disney's live-action film "Snow White," scheduled to be released next year.
[Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, "The Little Mermaid" has earned only $185.4 million (approximately 239 billion KRW) so far, failing to break even.

To break even, "The Little Mermaid" needs to earn more than twice its production cost of $250 million (approximately 322.4 billion KRW), totaling about $400 million (approximately 515.8 billion KRW).

During its opening four-day weekend, which included Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), "The Little Mermaid" earned $118.81 million, ranking fifth highest in Memorial Day weekend records. However, unlike previous Disney live-action films that earned more overseas than domestically, "The Little Mermaid" has suffered box office failures in various countries.

The box office performance in South Korea and China has been particularly dismal. Released domestically on the 24th of last month, "The Little Mermaid" barely surpassed 600,000 cumulative viewers by its third week. In China, it earned only about 19.5 million yuan (approximately 3.5 billion KRW) five days after release, marking the lowest box office performance among Disney films released in 2023.

Meanwhile, "The Little Mermaid," released in Japan on the 9th, attracted 461,000 viewers in three days and earned about 812 million yen (approximately 7.356 billion KRW), securing the number one spot at the Japanese box office.

The "Little Mermaid" earned $118.81 million during its first four-day weekend, which included Memorial Day (the last Monday of May), ranking as the fifth highest Memorial Day opening ever. However, unlike previous Disney live-action films that earned more overseas than in the U.S., "The Little Mermaid" has suffered box office failures in various countries.
[Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

However, this is less than half of the first-week performance of "Aladdin," which was released in 2019.

Many foreign media outlets, including Japan's MyDona News, predict the failure of "The Little Mermaid." On Japan's leading movie review site, the film scored 1.9 points on its opening day. Notably, the image keywords included "creepy" at 13.4%, "horror" at 9.7%, and "desperate" at 9.0%.

To make matters worse, from the second week of release, the film's box office has already started to decline due to the release of Sony and Marvel's joint film "Spider-Man: Across the Universe" and DC's "The Flash."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.