Layoffs At Disney Are "Widespread," Affect Both Disney And Fox Studios - Report

When Disney announced that its deal to purchase the majority Fox's entertainment assets for $71 billion had closed, CEO Robert Iger said in a memo that there would be a "integration process." Some media reports said "thousands" of jobs would be lost as part of this.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the latest round of layoffs came this week. The job cuts are described as "widespread" and affecting Disney's studios. There is no word on how many staffers were affected by the cuts, which reportedly affected Disney and Fox studios.

Officially, Disney has not commented.

The new round of cuts come alongside the news that Disney is likely to pay around $9 billion to buy Comcast's stake in video streaming site Hulu. Disney already owned two-thirds of Hulu, and Disney is now buying the remaining share to assume total ownership of it.

THR points out that Disney has a number of financial expenditures ahead of it, including further investments into content and programming for its Netflix rival Disney+. Not only that, but Disney is reportedly spending around $24 billion over the next five years to upgrade its theme parks and cruise lines.

As of September 30, The Walt Disney Company reportedly had more than 201,000 employees, and this was before the Fox deal closed.

As part of Disney's acquisition of the majority of Fox's assets, it gets Deadpool, X-Men, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and numerous others, as well as a series of TV networks and film studios. It is one of the biggest mergers in the history of the entertainment business.

Just after Disney's deal to buy Fox closed, the company shut down Fox 2000. The film studio produced movies like The Devil Wears Prada, The Fault in Our Stars, Man on Fire, and the Oscar nominated Hidden Figures.

Fox will live on in a limited capacity, with a new company--Fox Corporation--operating units such as the Fox News Channel, Fox Sports, and other TV networks.