Fired HBO execs accuse WBD of wiping out diversity in layoffs

Fired HBO execs accuse Warner Bros. Discovery of wiping out diversity by including 13 non-white staffers among its 70 layoffs – and claim network is ‘pandering to Middle America’ with non-political content

• Fired execs spoke out to slam layoffs at HBO following Discovery merger
• They say 13 non-white staffers were among the 70 recently laid off
• Warner Bros. Discovery has been slashing costs following $43B merger
• But insiders say new parent company is pandering to ‘Middle America’
• HBO shows with overt political themes could be on the chopping block
• It comes after WBD executives suddenly scrapped its $90M Batgirl movie 

Fired HBO executives are lashing out at new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, saying that the new ownership is wiping out diversity at the network by cutting the jobs of non-white staffers.

As expected following the $43 billion merger between Discovery and Warner Bros, CEO David Zaslav has been aggressively cutting costs and trimming staff as the new company merges operations.

HBO reportedly laid off about 70 people in the last month, and as many as 13 of the staffers let go were people of color, according to a Daily Beast report on Thursday citing two former HBO executives who asked not to be named.

Among those laid off were reportedly Jen Kim, an Asian woman who served as the senior vice president of the international team, and Kaela Barnes, a black woman who worked on Kim’s team. 

The layoffs have ‘amplified the lack of diversity at HBO,’ one of the former execs said, adding that ‘a lot of black and brown people lost their jobs.’

‘I don’t think anyone knows just how white the staff is,’ one of the executives said.

As expected following the $43 billion merger between Discovery and Warner Bros, CEO David Zaslav has been aggressively cutting costs and trimming staff

HBO executive Jen Kim (right) was reportedly among the non-white execs let go in recent layoffs. She had served as the senior vice president of the international team

Kaela Barnes, a black woman on the international team, was also reportedly laid off

A spokesperson for HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning. 

The executives suggested that Discovery, which acquired HBO parent company Warner Bros in the April merger, has a different content strategy that they fear will be pushed on the premium cable network.

The Discovery+ streaming platform is expected to merge with HBO Max at some point, and the combined platform may even be re-branded entirely.

One former exec describes Discovery+ as a ‘more general audience platform that doesn’t have the specificity that HBO Max was tailored to.’ 

‘I think Discovery is just a very ‘all’ audience, [they] don’t wanna make things that are political, topical, alienate Middle America—more Chip and Joanna,’ the person said, referring to the home renovation show Fixer Upper: Welcome Home hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines. 

One laid off exec said that Zaslav would ‘program Chip and Joanna all day long’ if he could, referring to Fixer Upper: Welcome Home hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines (above)

The Batgirl film was ‘canned’ by WBD execs after spending more than $90M on the movie because studio executives want to move away from made-for-streaming projects

‘If David Zaslav had his wish, he would just program Chip and Joanna all day long,’ the person said. ‘There was just a massive, ‘We don’t need you. You’re not offering the things we’re focused on.’ 

HBO responded in a statement to the Daily Beast: ‘HBO and HBO Max have always shown a commitment to diverse programming and storytellers, and always will.’

Since the April merger, Zaslav has moved quickly to slash costs in the combined company, with an expected $3 billion in cost savings projected from eliminating redundancies.

One of his biggest moves was to immediately pull the plug on the $300 million CNN+ streaming service, just weeks after it launched. 

The latest controversy comes just weeks after WBD executives suddenly scrapped its $90 million Batgirl origin film and the upcoming Scoob! sequel Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, which cost $40 million to produce.

Warner Bros Discovery will not be releasing the anticipated Batman: Caped Crusader show onto HBO Max

The Batgirl film was slated to be released on HBO Max later this year, but after a series of test screenings were panned by audiences, studio executives thought it would hurt the future of the brand as they seek to streamline the DC Extended Universe.

HBO productions canceled after Discovery+ merger 

A merger between the two streaming services has led several Warner Bros. productions to be canceled.

This is a list of each of the recent cancellations:

• Batgirl
• Merry Little Batman
• The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Toons Movie
• Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Toons Musical 
• Did I Do That to the Holidays: A Steve Urkel Story 
• The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie 
• The Gordita Chronicles
• Moonshot
• House Party
• Wonder Twins
• Scoob!: Holiday Haunt
• Raised by Wolves
• Made for Love
• Time Traveler’s Wife
• Close Enough
• Little Ellen 

The movie was first given the greenlight in 2021 as part of a company-wide effort to create feature films specifically for HBO Max, Variety reports.

It would have featured Latina actress Leslie Grace in the titular role as she battled Brendan Fraser’s Firefly who turned to a life of crime after he is fired from his job, loses his health insurance and could no longer care for his sick wife.

According to those who have seen the now-scrapped film, Michael Keaton’s Batman was only featured in a few scenes — and did not serve as a mentor to Grace’s Barbara Gordon, and the costumes were subpar.

‘I’ll say I’m not that surprised Batgirl got canceled as it features a woke Latino Batgirl and Barbara Gordon in a story that sounds downright awful,’ Matt McGloin wrote for Cosmic Book News.

A source also told the Post: ‘They think an unspeakable Batgirl is going to be irredeemable.’

And Collider Editor-In-Chief Steven Weintraub tweeted: ‘Spoke to people that saw #Batgirl, and they said it was a huge disappointment.

‘Also that the costumes looked cheap, especially Keaton’s Batman costume.’

Earlier this week, WBD execs also pulled the plug on a range of animated shows for HBO Max in another cost-cutting move.

Deadline reported the media giant will not be releasing the Batman: Caped Crusader animated series, along with five other cartoons.

The animated Batman show was being produced by Warner Bros Animation, Bad Robot Productions and 6th & Idaho.

It was supposed to mark Bruce Timm’s return to the franchise, after he successfully produced Batman: The Animated Series.

The show was advertised as using state-of-the-art animation technology to ‘reinvent Batman and iconic rogue’s gallery with sophisticated storytelling, nuanced characters and intense action sequences all set in a visually striking world.

It was given a straight to series order in May 2021, prior to the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery.

Executives have since sought to rethink their strategy on releases to the streaming platform as they try to tamp down on costs.

Batman: Caped Crusader will now be shopped to other outlets, TV Line reports, along with other animated films like family action comedy Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Toons Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Toons Musical, Did I Do That to the Holidays: A Steve Urkel Story and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie.

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