Disney Ends Press Screening Ban On LA Times

The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday lifted its ban of Los Angeles Times reporters and critics from its press screenings after a widespread backlash prompted several media outlets to announce their own boycotts of Disney movies.

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. Disney had barred the Times from its screenings after the paper published a two-part investigative series on the company’s business dealings in Anaheim, California, where Disneyland is.

Disney’s punitive measures against the Times led to many outlets refusing advance coverage of the studio’s films, including The New York Times, the Boston Globe and The A.V. Club. Four prominent film critics groups announced Tuesday that they would bar Disney films from receiving awards consideration.

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 all said that wouldn’t consider Disney films for their year-end awards. The critics groups noted that it was “admittedly extraordinary” to “take any action that might penalize film artists for decisions beyond their control.”

The New York Times said in a statement Tuesday that it wouldn’t attend preview screenings of Disney films while the LA Times can’t, saying Disney’s move is a “dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.”