Just recently, I was reminiscing about my journey with Disney (Ticker: DIS) in the post Is Disney a Great Company?
And this morning, I was reminded again why Disney had lost its appeal for me.
I wrote recently about free speech here. It seems as if many now interpret freedom of speech as we can say whatever we want, and sometimes do whatever we want without repercussions.
But while freedom of speech mostly prevents us from government prosecution, it doesn’t free us from being held accountable by employers, family, friends or even strangers.
Disney
And that’s exactly what is happening at Disney. Disney is a huge corporation. While we’re all familiar with the parks and with Mickey, many don’t realize that the house of mouse also owns the ABC broadcast network.
And this is where we ran into trouble.
ABC decided to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live based on something Kimmel said on the air. You can certainly read about this elsewhere (everywhere) so that’s all I’ll say.
2 Sides
But, it became a pretty big deal. Why did ABC decide to pull the show? Was there government pressure? What did the FCC chair say and how did that influence decisions?
And since there are always 2 sides to every story, some felt that Kimmel must be silenced, while others felt that the silencing was uncalled-for.
Disney (again)
But here we are again with Disney smack dab in the middle of a national political fiasco.
I do think that Disney has some outstanding assets. The parks are fantastic. The cruise experience is second to none. Sports fanatics must have ESPN (also a Disney property).
But when you keep stepping in it politically and it ends up in the national news time and time again, that, to me, is a problem.
Disney as an Investment
I bought my first Disney shares in 2010. My thesis involved the parks, the cruises, ESPN, Marvel and Mickey and the huge library of content. As a parent, I spent hours with my daughter watching Disney content. It seemed like people’s appetite for experiences was unending. Disney seemed like a great investment.
And it was. For a while.
I sold some in 2018 as I began my retirement planning.
I sold the rest of my shares in 2022 as the Chapek controversies continued to rage. Chapek was the CEO (briefly) and he was battling the state of Florida. I covered this here so I won’t rehash.
But politics around Disney and its decisions continued to be in the news for years.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about it as I thought more about Disney. It is a great company in so many ways. Here are my closing thoughts from that post:
OOPS
And then Disney stepped in it again.
The Daily Upside Article references the…well, I’ll show you.
Wrap Up
A couple of weeks ago, I spent some time thinking and writing about Disney. So much potential, but in the end, I decided not to get back in. The company has some things to work out.
But Disney continues to remain in the national spotlight for decisions that polarize its customer base.
So for me, I’ll keep my eye in Disney because I’m interested in the company and I want to learn more as the story plays out, but as an investor, I’ll stay away.