Will Woke Exit Stage Left? Hollywood’s Culture Clash In Trump’s Second Act

Disney ended 2024 by erasing a trans character from an upcoming streaming series. Weeks later, the Mouse House threw in the towel on its DEI policies.

It seems the cultural war on woke is off to a roaring start in Trump 2.0. right? Not so fast.

For every hard-fought battle there are new losses to absorb. Yes, free speech is on the ascendancy, from the return of roast comedy to Facebook scrapping unscrupulous fact-checkers. There’s still too much evidence that the woke rot infesting Western society won’t be dispatched overnight.

The war for common sense has only begun.

Let’s start with the good news. The Disney+ series “Win or Lose” follows a co-ed middle-school softball team battling for the championship. The Pixar show planned a trans-themed story arc for later in the season. That plan got hijacked weeks before the show’s February 19 debut. Disney’s corporate comments on the matter could have been written by The Heritage Foundation or PragerU:

When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.

This is the same company where an executive once bragged about her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”

That wasn’t all.

Disney just downgraded its DEI commitments, vowing to focus more on the bottom line. Imagine a mega-company having to say that out loud. The company also removed trigger warnings for classic Disney titles like “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan” on its Disney+ service.

Residents around the nation’s Capitol won’t be seeing any drag shows or trans-positive stories at The Kennedy Center moving forward. President Donald Trump installed a new board to oversee the cultural Mecca, putting the center’s “woke” programming in the rear-view mirror.

Woke may appear to be on the ropes, but we’re seeing more than a few examples suggesting it’s ready to fight another day. It’s particularly strong across the pond. 

Consider the University of the West of England Bristol. The school created more than 200 trigger warnings for William Shakespeare’s body of work, including notes about “extreme weather.”

The scary part? Fox News reports the student body members requested it.

U.K. police are cracking down on people who share the “wrong” thoughts on social media, too, an alarming escalation of the woke movement’s Thought Police.

Even beloved movies aren’t safe from the waning woke tide.

A less “problematic” version of 1986’s “Crocodile Dundee” screened in both the U.K. and Australia. The so-called “Encore Cut” of the film removed critical scenes, including Paul Hogan’s character groping a trans person’s genitals and brandishing a weapon.

The latter features the film’s most iconic line: “That’s not a knife. THAT’S a knife.”

That censored edition debuted in England and in Hogan’s native Australia. The “improved” “Dundee” goes into wider re-release in Australia later this year.

Stateside, the sexual thriller “Blink Twice” greeted theatrical audiences last year with a trigger warning about its R-rated content. The film follows two women who travel to a billionaire’s private island only to learn he doesn’t have their best interests at heart, to put it mildly.

That warning still haunts viewers on Prime Video. The streamer recently added the title to its content lineup and kept the warning intact.

Another infamous trigger warning hasn’t been memory holed, at least not yet. Max subscribers who want to revisit 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” must endure an “explainer” video sharing why the film’s 1930s-era values don’t align perfectly with the 21st century.

Recent woke attacks carried more than a whiff of violence.

Woke censors targeted Jewish performers throughout 2024, including actor-turned-comedian Michael Rapaport. Death threats canceled his Chicago-area appearance at Batavia’s Comedy Vault last June. As recently as November other protesters tried to cancel the New York native’s shows in Chicago’s Vic Theatre.

Other Jewish artists, including musician Matisyahu and actor/author Brett Gelman also saw their public appearances canceled due to woke-like protests.

There’s little reason to think they won’t face similar threats in 2025. In fact, Pro-Palestinian protesters just called for a boycott of the MCU release “Captain America: New World Order.” The film features a Jewish superhero named Sabra (Shira Haas) who works as part of the president’s security team.

The film downplays the character’s superpowers and doesn’t connect her directly to either Israel or the Mossad. (In Marvel Comics lore, Sabra worked with the latter group). The fact that Disney stripped the character of her overt Israeli roots speaks volumes.

Last month, an Amsterdam club canceled Jewish comedian Yohay Sponder’s show due to anti-Semitic threats.

The most ironic woke moment of 2025, so far, has a whiff of poetic justice. “Emilia Pérez’s” trans star Karla Sofía Gascón snagged a Best Actress Oscar nomination in January for the film. Awards show pundits figured Gascón could emerge triumphant come March 2, giving the Oscars the chance to make history by honoring a trans actor.

Then, the performer’s old tweets resurfaced all but crushing those chances.

Many argued that Oscar voters feted both Gascón and “Emilia Pérez” in the first place for political purposes. What better way to smite President Donald Trump than to elevate a trans musical?

The war on woke is a necessary one, and for the first time in years we’re seeing some major victories. The fight continues, and the woke warriors won’t give up easily.

* * *

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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​[[{“value”:”

Disney ended 2024 by erasing a trans character from an upcoming streaming series. Weeks later, the Mouse House threw in the towel on its DEI policies.

It seems the cultural war on woke is off to a roaring start in Trump 2.0. right? Not so fast.

For every hard-fought battle there are new losses to absorb. Yes, free speech is on the ascendancy, from the return of roast comedy to Facebook scrapping unscrupulous fact-checkers. There’s still too much evidence that the woke rot infesting Western society won’t be dispatched overnight.

The war for common sense has only begun.

Let’s start with the good news. The Disney+ series “Win or Lose” follows a co-ed middle-school softball team battling for the championship. The Pixar show planned a trans-themed story arc for later in the season. That plan got hijacked weeks before the show’s February 19 debut. Disney’s corporate comments on the matter could have been written by The Heritage Foundation or PragerU:

When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.

This is the same company where an executive once bragged about her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”

That wasn’t all.

Disney just downgraded its DEI commitments, vowing to focus more on the bottom line. Imagine a mega-company having to say that out loud. The company also removed trigger warnings for classic Disney titles like “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan” on its Disney+ service.

Residents around the nation’s Capitol won’t be seeing any drag shows or trans-positive stories at The Kennedy Center moving forward. President Donald Trump installed a new board to oversee the cultural Mecca, putting the center’s “woke” programming in the rear-view mirror.

Woke may appear to be on the ropes, but we’re seeing more than a few examples suggesting it’s ready to fight another day. It’s particularly strong across the pond. 

Consider the University of the West of England Bristol. The school created more than 200 trigger warnings for William Shakespeare’s body of work, including notes about “extreme weather.”

The scary part? Fox News reports the student body members requested it.

U.K. police are cracking down on people who share the “wrong” thoughts on social media, too, an alarming escalation of the woke movement’s Thought Police.

Even beloved movies aren’t safe from the waning woke tide.

A less “problematic” version of 1986’s “Crocodile Dundee” screened in both the U.K. and Australia. The so-called “Encore Cut” of the film removed critical scenes, including Paul Hogan’s character groping a trans person’s genitals and brandishing a weapon.

The latter features the film’s most iconic line: “That’s not a knife. THAT’S a knife.”

That censored edition debuted in England and in Hogan’s native Australia. The “improved” “Dundee” goes into wider re-release in Australia later this year.

Stateside, the sexual thriller “Blink Twice” greeted theatrical audiences last year with a trigger warning about its R-rated content. The film follows two women who travel to a billionaire’s private island only to learn he doesn’t have their best interests at heart, to put it mildly.

That warning still haunts viewers on Prime Video. The streamer recently added the title to its content lineup and kept the warning intact.

Another infamous trigger warning hasn’t been memory holed, at least not yet. Max subscribers who want to revisit 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” must endure an “explainer” video sharing why the film’s 1930s-era values don’t align perfectly with the 21st century.

Recent woke attacks carried more than a whiff of violence.

Woke censors targeted Jewish performers throughout 2024, including actor-turned-comedian Michael Rapaport. Death threats canceled his Chicago-area appearance at Batavia’s Comedy Vault last June. As recently as November other protesters tried to cancel the New York native’s shows in Chicago’s Vic Theatre.

Other Jewish artists, including musician Matisyahu and actor/author Brett Gelman also saw their public appearances canceled due to woke-like protests.

There’s little reason to think they won’t face similar threats in 2025. In fact, Pro-Palestinian protesters just called for a boycott of the MCU release “Captain America: New World Order.” The film features a Jewish superhero named Sabra (Shira Haas) who works as part of the president’s security team.

The film downplays the character’s superpowers and doesn’t connect her directly to either Israel or the Mossad. (In Marvel Comics lore, Sabra worked with the latter group). The fact that Disney stripped the character of her overt Israeli roots speaks volumes.

Last month, an Amsterdam club canceled Jewish comedian Yohay Sponder’s show due to anti-Semitic threats.

The most ironic woke moment of 2025, so far, has a whiff of poetic justice. “Emilia Pérez’s” trans star Karla Sofía Gascón snagged a Best Actress Oscar nomination in January for the film. Awards show pundits figured Gascón could emerge triumphant come March 2, giving the Oscars the chance to make history by honoring a trans actor.

Then, the performer’s old tweets resurfaced all but crushing those chances.

Many argued that Oscar voters feted both Gascón and “Emilia Pérez” in the first place for political purposes. What better way to smite President Donald Trump than to elevate a trans musical?

The war on woke is a necessary one, and for the first time in years we’re seeing some major victories. The fight continues, and the woke warriors won’t give up easily.

* * *

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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