World War II veteran Charles Cram, who witnessed the flag raising at Iwo Jima, is seen at Disneyland's Flag Retreat as family watches. (Disney Experiences)
Disney laid off several hundred workers Tuesday morning across multiple divisions, with Pixar taking the lion's share of the cuts.
At least 116 workers have been laid off at Pixar's Emeryville, California headquarters, according to TheWrap, citing sources. Disney Entertainment Television, Disney Studios and ESPN are also affected by the latest round of layoffs.
The layoffs come as Pixar's recently released “Toy Story 5” is dominating the world, grossing an estimated $962 million worldwide and putting the film on track to pass the $1 billion mark.
The cuts also mark Pixar's biggest round of layoffs in the past two years, despite “Inside Out 2” being the top-grossing animated film of all time at $1.69 billion worldwide in 2024.
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Toy Story characters Jessie, Woody and Buzz Lightyear pose at the red carpet launch of 'Toy Story 5' in London on May 28, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images)
Within Disney Entertainment, National Geographic is expected to be among the hardest-hit brands, according to the report.
ESPN also cut several high-profile on-air personalities, including Karl Ravech, the longtime SportsCenter star and host of Baseball Tonight who has been with the network since 1993, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Ryan Clark, a former NFL player who served as an ESPN football analyst for more than a decade, was also named.
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Characters from Disney and Pixar's “Inside Out 2” are shown during the film's premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood on June 10, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney/Pixar/Getty Images)
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told employees in a memo Tuesday morning that the company made the decision after an extensive review of its teams and organizational structure.
“In the past few months, we have made significant progress in consolidating the NFL assets we have acquired at ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collected teams, resources and organizational structure to better position us for the future. As a result, we had to make difficult decisions about the implications of the work that we will be talking about today,” said Pitaro Reporter.
The cuts may have been due to the underperformance of “Hopper,” Pixar's first film that debuted earlier this year, sources told TheWrap.
The film is reported to have finished slightly below the breach and below Hollywood accounting standards.
Josh D'Amaro, as then-chairman of Disney Experiences for the Walt Disney Co., at the time of Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, US, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Pixar's “Elio” also struggled at the box office, earning an estimated $154 million worldwide in 2025 against a reported production budget of $200 million. It marked the studio's lowest-grossing film since the impact of COVID-19 on “On.”
The latest round of layoffs marks the third wave of job cuts to hit the media giant this year.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | Change % |
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| DIS | This company WALT DISNEY CO. | 95.87 | -0.27 |
-0.28% |
In April, Disney fired about 1,000 workers in its television and film divisions under newly appointed CEO Josh D'Amaro.
The executive cited the need to “straighten out” operations amid the “fast pace” of change across the entertainment industry.
In January, Disney reportedly consolidated its marketing departments under Chief Brand Officer Asad Ayaz, leading to further cuts in those areas, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
