New York Times Joins Disney Movie Boycott Over LA Times Blackout

The New York Times joined a growing media boycott of Disney movies, saying in a statement that it will not attend screenings of Disney films until the company restores access to the Los Angeles Times.

“The New York Times will not attend preview screenings of Disney films until access is restored to the Los Angeles Times,” a Times spokesperson told TheWrap. “A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect. This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.”

Shortly after the paper issued its statement, Disney announced it would rescind its blackout of the LA Times.

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

Since then, a wave of media outlets and critics have expressed solidarity with the LAT. 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.

And on Tuesday, 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 have denounced the Walt Disney Company’s media blackout of the LA Times.

Also Read: TV Critics Association Condemns Disney for LA Times Blackout

In addition, all four groups voted to disqualify Disney’s films from year-end awards consideration until the blackout is publicly lifted.

Also Read: Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool Fans Worry R-Rated Hero Will Get Disneyfied After Proposed Fox Merger

According to a joint statement by the four critics groups, “Disney’s actions, which include an indefinite ban on any interaction with The Times, are antithetical to the principles of a free press and set a dangerous precedent in a time of already heightened hostility toward journalists.”

The statement concluded, “Disney’s response should gravely concern all who believe in the importance of a free press, artists included.”

Hollywood's Biggest Brands Haunted by Hackers, From HBO to Disney (Photos)

Since the high-profile hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, cybersecurity has become one of Hollywood's top concerns as more studios and networks continue to become prime targets.
The biggest and most consequential hack to hit Hollywood was the Sony Pictures hack of 2014. Spurred by the studio's then-upcoming comedy "The Interview," about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korean hackers were able to access employee information, emails, unreleased projects and other damaging information.
Sony
Netflix fell victim to a hack in 2017 when a group called "The Dark Overlord" stole episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" from a post-production house. When the streamer failed to meet ransom demands, the group released 10 episodes of the series weeks ahead of the scheduled premiere.
Netflix
After The Dark Overlord successfully released "Orange Is the New Black," the group took to Twitter promising to target other companies next. The group named ABC its next target in a vague tweet, but did not specify which show or shows it was threatening to release.
ABC
When The Dark Overlord took "Orange Is the New Black" from Larson Studios, it also reportedly made off with other unaired shows, including "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "Portlandia." ABC, NBC, FX, National Geographic, E!, Disney Channel and Lifetime were also contacted by the FBI, who was investigating the incident, to notify them that their work may have been compromised.
CBS
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in a company town hall meeting that the film studio had received a ransom demand from a hacker who claimed to have stolen one of their unreleased films. Reports said the pirated film was "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," though it was never released. Iger later said in an interview that he believed it to be a hoax.
Getty Images
UTA suffered a "malware incident" in April, in which hackers held the company's computer systems hostage, demanding payment in bitcoin. Meetings were canceled and pushed, with the talent agency effectively shut down as the company raced to respond. Outside investigators concluded that no sensitive information was compromised.
Getty Images
The Sundance Film Festival also suffered a cyberattack in 2017. The box office was forced to go offline for roughly 40 minutes as the festival responded to the situation, but no screenings were affected by the outage. "Our artist's voices will be heard and the show will go on," the festival said in a statement.
Getty Images
In the middle of the seventh season run of its biggest hit "Game of Thrones," HBO suffered a cyber breach in which hackers reportedly obtained a copy of the script for an upcoming episode. Unaired episodes of "Ballers" and "Room 104" were also stolen and released online.
HBO

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Since 2014’s massive Sony hack, Hollywood continues to be compromised

Since the high-profile hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, cybersecurity has become one of Hollywood's top concerns as more studios and networks continue to become prime targets.

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Hollywood's Biggest Brands Haunted by Hackers, From HBO to Disney (Photos)

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