Disney-affiliated ABC kills expose on Disney

No parent pushing his toddler through a Disney World turnstile would suspect the Magic Kingdom of harboring pedophiles. No family watching a Disney movie would believe the company also produced pay-per-view porn and Satanic records. No one raised on Disney's squeaky-clean image would smell a rat in the Mouse House. Until now.

In their controversial new book, Disney: The Mouse Betrayed, published by Regnery (a HUMAN EVENTS sister company within Eagle Publishing), Peter and Rochelle Schweizer charge that the company once committed to "the finest in family entertainment" now compromises childrens' safety and even violates child labor laws in the name of pumping profits.

Disney denies the charges, and two weeks ago, its subsidiary, ABC News, killed a "20/20" expose on allegations raised by the book.

One of the book's co-author, Peter Schweizer, had previously worked as a consultant with ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross and producer Rhonda Schwartz. When Schweizer mentioned his book, both expressed interest, saying that they were already working on a Disney story.

Schweizer told HUMAN EVENTS that Rhonda Schwartz visited him in Orlando, reviewed his material, and after pitching the story at ABC was given preliminary approval.

Assurances From ABC News

When Schwartz approached Regnery Publishing with a proposal to use material from the book in a "20/20" report, Regnery Vice President Richard Vigilante was concerned about the relationship between ABC and Disney. "We obviously were apprehensive since Disney owns ABC," Vigilante told HUMAN EVENTS.

In a May 21 meeting with Schwartz, Vigilante specifically asked her if Disney would allow the story to air. Schwartz assured him that ABC News would never allow Disney to interfere, and said that, if ABC killed the story, she and Ross would resign. (Schwartz did not return calls from HUMAN EVENTS.)

When Schwartz suggested that the story might run on one of the first shows on the revised "20/20," Regnery agreed to postpone publication and entered into a binding confidentiality agreement with ABC.

Days after signing the agreement, Vigilante received a letter from ABC senior Vice President Richard Wald confirming that "[W]e fully intend to follow ABC's normal news practices in connection with this investigation.... That is, we do not intend to provide Disney. . .with unusual access."

Schwartz began developing the Disney story, spending a month in Orlando with Assistant Producer Jill Rackmill retracing the Schweizers' steps, filming interviews and conducting a hidden camera investigation inside Disney World.

"We assumed everything was set," Peter Schweizer told HUMAN EVENTS. "The experience that we had in the past with these news magazines is that the network is not going to commit the resources to film something unless it's pretty much a go."

But two weeks ago, following a series of delays, Schweizer learned that ABC had no intention of running the piece. After their first script sparked controversy within ABC, Ross and Schwartz submitted a revised version, but heard nothing from the network until a publicist told them that ABC would be releasing a statement saying the story was dead.

"There were no specific questions raised about information, about cases, about sources, or anything. There were no specific questions raised," Schweizer said.

ABC spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told HUMAN EVENTS, "The story didn't air because it was not acceptable to ABC News." She said, "Disney plays no part in the editorial decisions that are made at ABC.... There certainly was no contact between ABC News management and the Disney company and there never is in any story we cover."

Disney spokesman Ken Green confirmed that the decision was made "absolutely 100% internally" and that Disney management had never discussed the situation with "20/20" personnel or ABC executives.

As far as the future of the story, Murphy told HUMAN EVENTS, "I think that at this point the likelihood of us airing a story on this topic is remote."

Since ABC will not address the book's allegations, we asked Disney to respond. Here's how they countered the charges that ABC found too hot to handle:

Disney owns Hollywood Records, which, according to the book, "offer[s] America's youth songs about rape, killing, and sex with demons, while at the same time glorifying drug use by their bands." Disney spokesman Ken Green told HUMAN EVENTS, "Almost all the groups mentioned at Hollywood Records are no longer under contract with us." When asked if the groups were dropped because of their offensive lyrics or a lack of profits, Green said, "We don't discuss our business decisions."

The Schweizers' book says that Disney is a partner in Viewer's Choice, the nation's largest pay-per-view pornography distributor. Green said, "We are not a member of that anymore. We were a member of that and while we belonged to that group they did not release any Xrated movie. The strongest things they related were Rrated, and R-rated is not considered porn." Schweizer told HUMAN EVENTS, "The idea that they didn't do porn, that's flat out not true. These are totally nude modeling shows. That's certainly not an R-rating."