Disney reportedly lays off hundreds of employees, Pixar hit hard despite blockbuster success

Disney laid off several hundred employees Tuesday morning across multiple divisions, with Pixar absorbing the largest share of the cuts.

At least 116 employees were laid off at Pixar’s Emeryville, California, headquarters, according to TheWrap, citing sources. Disney Entertainment Television, Disney Studios and ESPN were also affected by the latest round of workforce reductions. 

The layoffs came as Pixar’s newly released “Toy Story 5” dominated the global box office, grossing about $962 million worldwide and putting the film on track to surpass the $1 billion mark. 

The cuts also mark Pixar’s largest round of layoffs in the last two years, despite “Inside Out 2” becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time with $1.69 billion worldwide in 2024.

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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, a longtime SportsCenter anchor and Baseball Tonight host who has been with the network since 1993, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Ryan Clark, a former NFL player who has served as an ESPN football analyst for more than a decade, was also named.

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ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told staff in a memo Tuesday morning that the company made the decision after an extensive evaluation of its teams and organizational structure. 

“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today,” Pitaro said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

The cuts may have been triggered in part by the underperformance of “Hopper,” Pixar’s original film that launched earlier this year, sources told TheWrap. 

The movie reportedly finished slightly below breaking even under Hollywood accounting standards. 

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Pixar’s “Elio” also struggled at the box office, earning about $154 million worldwide in 2025 against a reported production budget of $200 million. It marked the studio’s lowest-grossing film since the COVID-impacted “Onward.”

The latest round of layoffs marks the third wave of job cuts to hit the media giant this year. 

In April, Disney laid off roughly 1,000 employees across its television and film divisions under newly appointed CEO Josh D’Amaro. 

The executive cited the need to “streamline” operations amid the “fast-moving pace” of change across the entertainment industry.

In January, Disney reportedly consolidated its marketing departments under Chief Brand Officer Asad Ayaz, leading to additional cuts in those areas, according to The Hollywood Reporter.