Disney Headlines for January 21st, 2025
This past week, Disney found itself drawn into the Justin Baldoni/Blake Lively feud.
Also, analysts warned that Disney stock may be in some trouble in the short term, and Imagineers broke ground on the next big thing.
We’ve got plenty of ground to cover in this week’s Disney Headlines.
How Is This Helping?
Photo: People
Blake Lively appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, a movie starring her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
The duo often assist one another with projects, and it’s made them very wealthy, exceptionally well-liked people.
Blake Lively
Last summer, the couple briefly had competing films in theaters, with Lively’s It Ends with Us also becoming a blockbuster.
In case you somehow haven’t heard, Lively and her co-star, Justin Baldoni, did NOT get along during the film’s production.
Photo: Pure Wow
You can search the specifics, but the gist is that Lively found Baldoni’s behavior inexcusable.
Rather than sabotage the project she adored, Lively bided her time and followed the adage that revenge is a dish best served cold.
In Touch Weekly
On December 22nd, 2024, Baldoni must have gotten freezer burn in the wake of this New York Times article. Dude got rekt.
In video game terms, Lively not only killed him but also teabagged his corpse before doing a celebratory dance.
Photo: cba.cj
In the aftermath of the NYT slam piece, Baldoni and his PR people are suing everybody, including each other.
Not content to accept his defeat with grace, Baldoni has engaged in a smear campaign of his own, which is the second time if the article’s allegations are true.
Photo: Miriam-Webster
The other day, the actor took the extraordinary step of warning Disney to “preserve all documents” related to Deadpool & Wolverine.
Oddly, Baldoni isn’t doing this because of Lively’s cameo in the film. No, he’s coming after Ryan Reynolds.
Photo: People
Baldoni believes that the character of Nicepool, the one derisively used for laughs in the film, is based on him.
So, Baldoni has gone full Streisand Effect by drawing an unbelievable amount of attention to this character.
Is Justin Baldoni Nicepool?
Photo: Between the Weekends
Now, everyone is rewatching the Nicepool clips on social media and mocking Baldoni for his narcissism AND the possibility he’s right.
While Reynolds has denied the accusation, let’s say that Baldoni is right as a thought exercise.
Photo: Pexel.com
How does Baldoni drawing attention to this fact make him look like any less of a loser?
If Baldoni is correct, he’s just done a speedrun on the Kendrick Lamar/Drake feud, and he is NOT Kendrick Lamar.
Photo: Marvel
All this lawsuit does is draw attention to the fact that Ryan Reynolds made one of the most successful films of the past five years.
During the course of the film, Reynolds may have absolutely eviscerated the person who mistreated his wife during a film shoot.
Image Credit: @vancityreynolds/Instagram
Legally, Reynolds would have the right to do it since all public figures are subject to such scrutiny.
Ethically, Reynolds would be in the right to do it because partners should always defend partners against such offensive attacks.
Professionally, Reynolds was already revered for his wit and fearlessness. This turn of events makes him iconic.
Honestly, I love this story because it’s going to be a case study in how NOT to handle a Hollywood PR crisis.
Image Credit: ABC News
Free advice: never mess with Ryan Reynolds and/or Blake Lively.
As for Disney, this is more legal drama that wastes everybody’s time.
A Word of Warning about Disney Stock
Photo: Wikimedia
By the time you read this, I cannot promise anything about the stock market, as strangeness is afoot.
Still, you’ve likely noticed that Disney stock has dropped in recent days.
Photo: measureupgroup.com
During the Christmas break, Disney was at $112.56 and had even reached $117 earlier in the month.
At the close of business on Friday, the stock had fallen to $107.02, and at least one industry insider is worried about worse.
Image: DIS
The estimable Jessica Reif Ehrlich believes that The Walt Disney Company is in great shape and deems the stock worth $140.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that Ehrlich has done her homework and recognized that the upcoming fiscal earnings report could go sideways.
Photo: Bank rate
Don’t get me wrong. Disney should have an excellent quarter, with Wall Street analysts projecting double-digit growth.
However, Ehrlich, one of the greatest living business analysts, has noticed what others haven’t yet.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
Disney will suffer some weather-related losses and cruise ship expenses this quarter.
So, at a time when Wall Street is carefully tracking disposable income metrics, the Disney Experiences division could disappoint.
Photo: History.com
Should that happen, it won’t reflect on theme park or cruise attendance inasmuch as a run of bad luck.
This quarter will include both hurricanes this past fall as well as the final payment on the Disney Treasure.
Photo:NYpost.com
Since Wall Street considers Disney vacations a sign of consumer confidence, a revenue miss for this division could trigger some alarms.
In addition, Disney will likely provide context on how the recent Southern California brush fires impact its next quarter of finances.
Photo: ABC News
So, plenty of factors are working against Disney in the short term, and it happens to be occurring at a time when everyone is watching.
If Disney stock drops when the company is this well-positioned, well, Wall Street is strange.
The Tropical Americas Are Official
Photo: Disney
As Justin Hermes told you on Friday, Disney’s Animal Kingdom has officially started its transition.
Elements of DinoLand USA have closed permanently, with construction walls altering where guests can walk in the area.
Photo: Disney
Over the next two years, Disney will create a magical new location called the Tropical Americas.
This themed land will honor the rich tradition and history of this part of the Western Hemisphere.
Photo: Disney
We’ll get an Indiana Jones ride and an Encanto dark ride that takes us inside Casita Madrigal.
You should already know all this by now, but this past week marked a turning point in the process.
Photo: Disney
Now that Imagineers have broken ground on the Tropical Americas, we can start tracking the progress of all the new amenities.
So, this is a big day for Disney fans. The $60 billion expansion era has officially begun.
Photo: Washington Post
To you and me, that’s the biggest Disney Headline of all!
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