Disney has long avoided controversial figures, but is embracing Kaepernick across its brandsgetty images
Disney this week "made a first-look deal -- a mutual commitment to develop content" -- with Colin Kaepernick, and on its face, it "represents a shocking turnaround," according to Steven Zeitchik of the WASHINGTON POST. Kaepernick's protests "created a legion of followers, a large number of detractors and a culture war that went all the way to the White House." Disney has "long been careful in the extreme to avoid lightning rods," yet here it stands, "embracing Kaepernick across its brands." The Kaepernick deal "may also be less subversive than it appears." Kaepernick and his approach were endorsed by Disney "only after many entities had already pivoted to embrace the athlete during the past six weeks of Black Lives Matter protests." The signing "says a lot more about the distance his message has traveled than how far Disney has come." For a large entertainment outfit, Kaepernick "now presents a prize not easily obtained: the chance to appear activist in a moment when some of the country's biggest celebrities are crying out for action." But all of this mainstreaming and revisionism over Kaepernick's brand "doesn't mean there aren't plenty of shots left in the culture war." It just means they "won't be fired over him" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/8).
