Jenny Slate as Bellwether in Zootopia (2016), Walt Disney Animation Studios

Previously, we’ve covered an anonymous Disney whistleblower who has alleged that The Walt Disney Company coordinated with the Harris campaign in order to gain significant advantage in the ABC presidential debate. Now, things are getting a little bizarre…

In what appears to be a coordinated communication effort between a number of conservative political activists online, the whistleblower’s allegations have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal agency that oversees corporate activities. That’s strange given inappropriate coordination with political parties would not typically be within the purview of the SEC (as it’s better known). We’ll get into why this is such a twist in just a moment. First, here’s the latest post on X:

 

Remember, some of the reasons we’ve covered this alleged whistleblower have been as follows:

    The roadmap of when this whistleblower’s documents would be released has been accurate. We’re still waiting on reported audio files that are said to corroborate the allegations.
    The posted affidavit has all the hallmarks of being a legitimate legal document with actual attorney oversight.
    The Walt Disney Company’s direct response to the allegations has been somewhat nebulous and lacking in specificity. This is perhaps the biggest reason we’ve decided to cover the story.

However, there are some peculiarities with the latest things we’re seeing. The idea that an anonymous source is sharing potentially career-ending information with a variety of very public figures is unusual. Plus, filing with the SEC would mean that the whistleblower is almost certainly claiming that this alleged collusion is a betrayal of fiduciary responsibility by The Walt Disney Company. While we’re open to reporting on anything legitimate here, that’s a stretch into a new realm of legal theory that is — at best — an unproven strategy for corporate malfeasance. Filing with the FCC or FEC would be more expected, though those routes are likewise probably a dead end.

HULU ON DISNEY+ CELEBRATION – Some of the biggest stars across The Walt Disney Company celebrate the official launch of Hulu on Disney+ at an exclusive cocktail reception hosted by Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, along with special guest Bob Iger, on Friday evening in Los Angeles. (Disney/Greg Williams)
DANA WALDEN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY), ROBERT A. IGER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY), ALAN BERGMAN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)

Another bizarre part of this is that the screenshots show multiple “corroborating” documents attached to the SEC filing. However, the documents are not made visible to the public, not even in redacted form. This leaves us unable to make any sort of judgement as to the validity of these claims. As a result, until we get to audio files or other evidentiary documents, this story is an extremely enticing tale that needs substance. The response from Disney is still lacking in a huge way, but there will need to be more brought for public scrutiny if this is to materialize in any additional way. The chances of the SEC responding to this complaint any time soon would seem to be as close to zero as one can imagine.

Should the audio files be made publicly available, or any other documents, we’ll continue to cover the story. If Disney faces congressional pressures, we’ll cover the story. Until more substantive information comes our way, we’ll wait to discuss the implications on the world’s largest entertainment company.