The quote is exactly what normal people assume it is, out of context and not the entire quote.
Twentieth Century Television Senior Vice President Michael Giordano was caught on a hidden video saying that Disney explicitly does not hire “white men” for specific roles.
For specific roles. That's pretty fcking obvious. You're not going to hire a white man to play the little mermaid.
Ironically if they did hire a white man to play The Little Mermaid, the hard right nutjobs would be screaming that it was part of a "woke trans agenda" to normalize crossdressing and eliminate the traditional American male from society lol
I mean, the little mermaid should be a danish woman. Like thats where the tale comes from. if they want a diverse movie, why not use a tale from somewhere that isnt europe?
The original 20 minute video in the article makes it clear he's talking about job roles, and mentions writers a few times (admittedly not close enough to draw an 100% certain link). I don't think it's enough to discredit this just based on the assumption that he's talking about actors or that there isn't enough context. Obviously it's vague enough that we can't draw any solid conclusions, so I agree with you there.
The main reason I think this is bullshit is that the guy's testimony isn't credible for two main reasons:
The guy was recently passed up for promotion, and blames it on being white and male
The interviewer is posing as a romantically interested date and asking plenty of leading questions, the guy is at least partially telling her what she wants to hear
These two points, regardless of how true his story is, give him an ulterior motive for embellishing the story and exaggerating facts, which ultimately means we can't trust this.
I'd like to see a full investigation, as with any accusation of discrimination. But we all know that when nothing turns up, it wouldn't shut the right wingers up