Warner Bros. Discovery is doing away with the term DEI, but says it is still committed to inclusion within its company.
In a memo sent to staff Thursday, the company said it plans to continue to tell inclusive and diverse stories and to build an inclusive team through its recruiting and training programs.
But the company said it is making the change around its language to make sure we continue to comply with the evolving legal landscape in the United States and around the world. The memo, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, was sent by chief inclusion officer Asif Sadiq and chief people culture officer Jennifer Remling.
Our overarching work in this space will now be referred to as Inclusion, which Asifs team will continue to oversee. Making this change better aligns our language with our focus throughout our company, in our industry, and across our content, the memo reads.
The company said it will now have a uniform and consistent applications progress across all of its talent programs and will no longer participate in third-party surveys but will continue to gather internal data that allows us to understand how our employee base reflects the audience we serve.
The change comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order rolling back government DEI efforts. The Department of Justice said earlier this month that it would direct prosecutors to penalize and eliminate illegal DEI mandates across the private sector.
In response, many companies, including Paramount, Disney and Amazon Studios are rolling back their DEI efforts. Paramount said Wednesday that it is getting rid of staffing goals related to race, ethnicity and gender and will stop collecting gender and diversity data for most U.S. job applicants. However, the company also said Values like inclusivity and collaboration are a part of the Paramount culture and will continue to be.
Warner Bros. Discovery alsoreiterated its commitment to having diverse perspectives.
Our success absolutely depends on having a team thats truly diverse, reflects all perspectives, and has a culture where our employees feel valued and respected, the memo reads. These have always been our values and that wont ever change.