Disney caves in following L.A. Times ban backlash: 'We've agreed to restore access'

The Wrap
Disney Caves in LA Times Critic Ban: ‘We’ve Agreed to Restore Access’

The Walt Disney Company has blinked in its standoff with the Los Angeles Times, caving to immense criticism after the studio denied critics and reporters from the publication access to advance film screenings.

“We’ve had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at The Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns, and as a result, we’ve agreed to restore access to advance screenings for their film critics,” Disney said in a statement to The New York Times.

On Friday, the L.A. Times reported that Disney had blocked its writers and editors from previews in retaliation for the paper’s reporting on Disney’s business dealings with the city of Anaheim.

Also Read: TV Critics Association Condemns Disney for L.A. Times Blackout

A wave of media outlets and critics have expressed solidarity with the L.A. Times in the following days. On Monday, the A.V. Club website and Washington Post critic at large Alyssa= Rosenberg announced they would boycott Disney screenings until the L.A. Times was allowed to attend them as well.

The National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics denounced  the studio’s media blackout on Tuesday, follwed by The New York Times.

The studio’s own talent like Ava DuVernay, the Academy Award-nominated director of the upcoming Disney film A Wrinkle in Time, stood firm with the press over the matter.

“Saluting the film journalists standing up for one another. Standing with you,”DuVernay tweeted late Monday.

Disney and the L.A. Times would likely have little to squabble about on the film side — the studio’s Marvel property Thor is a massive box-office success and one of the few bright spots in a dismal theatrical year.

The dominating movie company is on the verge of releasing Pixar’s latest animated film, Coco, over Thanksgiving and at Christmas will usher in the latest installment of the Star Wars saga, subtitled The Last Jedi.