Disney ends LA Times ban amid backlash
Disney (DIS) is walking back a ban on the Los Angeles Times after the company's decision sparked a media uproar and boycotts from industry groups.
In a statement Tuesday, Disney said it was restoring access to the newspaper after "productive discussions with the newly installed leadership" at the Los Angeles Times.
The company had barred the Times from its screenings after the paper published a two-part investigative series on Disney's business dealings in Anaheim, California, where Disneyland is.
Disney said last week the Times disregarded "basic journalistic standards" in the report.
Four prominent film critics groups said they would bar Disney films from receiving awards consideration over the company's decision to exclude the Los Angeles Times from advance screenings of its films and access to its talent.
In a joint statement released early Tuesday, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics denounced Disney's decision, saying it "should gravely concern all who believe in the importance of a free press, artists included." The groups said Disney films wouldn't be considered for awards until the blackout of the Times is lifted.
The dispute aired on Friday when the Los Angeles Times posted a note to its readers that its holiday sneak peek reviews didn't include Disney movies because the studio declined to provide advance screenings to the newspaper. Times writer Glenn Whipp wrote on Twitter that the ban was why the publication didn't have a review of "Thor: Ragnarok" in the newspaper that day.
