A conservative media watchdog group is slamming Disney Plus for breaking its promise not to add R-rated movies to the streaming platform. On Friday, Parents Television and Media Council announced that Disney Plus “made R-rated Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Logan available to subscribers today.”
In 2019, the blog “What’s On Disney Plus” reported that Disney Plus would only include content with ratings of “PG-13 or softer” and that more adult-oriented content the Walt Disney Company acquired from its purchase of 20th Century Fox would be distributed on its other streaming platform, Hulu.
“Three years ago, the Walt Disney Company made a promise to families,” PTC President Tim Winter recalled. “No R-rated movies on Disney+, they said. It’s a family focused platform, they said. We have Hulu for our edgier adult fare, they said. It turns out they were lying to us. After decades of corporate brilliance establishing itself as the world’s most trusted brand for families, today’s C-level suite at Disney has decided to flush it all down the toilet.”
Noting that “Disney+ points subscribers to its parental controls,” Winter insisted that “the mere presence of R-rated and TV-MA rated content violates the trust and sensibilities of families.” He expressed disappointment that “what took decades to build is now taking mere months to erase.”
“One day in the no-too-distant future, business schools will point back to this corrupt corporate U-Turn as they analyze what happened to the once-great Walt Disney Company,” he predicted. “In the meantime, families will continue to be woefully underserved by Hollywood.” Melissa Henson, program director for the PTC, elaborated on her concerns with Disney Plus’ embrace of R-rated programming in an interview with The Christian Post.
“People who are looking for MA-rated content have … an abundance of streaming platforms that offer that kind of content,” she said. “There are very few streaming platforms that offer only family-friendly content. Disney Plus was one of them. And now, no longer Disney Plus. So, there are fewer and fewer really truly safe options for families.”
Henson told CP that “there are a few competitors out there,” specifically mentioning the video filtering service VidAngel, which can be used “on top of an existing streaming service” such as Disney Plus. READ MORE
