Disney, Harvard and the Paris Olympics rang out the year as recipients of the 2024 Worst of the Woke awards, the dubious distinction given to companies and organizations for “outrageous headline-grabbing incidents of woke run wild.”
The other winners of the New Tolerance Campaign’s fourth annual honor included Harley-Davidson, Columbia and Super Bowl LVIII, all institutions recognized for foisting “a woke agenda on a weary public,” said the campaign.
“The important thing is to understand that we can laugh about woke in the United States, and I think we should. Woke deserves to be ridiculed, and we have a duty to do that in the United States,” Gregory T. Angelo, president of the right-tilting group, told The Washington Times. “It’s how we keep the culture in check.”
At the same time, he said, efforts to push left-wing concepts like diversity, equity and inclusion on Americans should not be taken lightly.
“It’s also important to note that there are very large, very well-funded, very powerful institutions that are pushing a leftist ideological agenda throughout our culture,” Mr. Angelo said. “It’s important to take the list just as seriously as one might find it amusing.”
Leading the list of 10 honorees was “The Acolyte,” the Disney+ streaming series that crashed after one season amid mockery over its leftist take on the “Star Wars” franchise, which included an “all-lesbian coven of Force witches.”
The 2024 Paris Games made the cut for its opening ceremony featuring drag queens posing as the apostles in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper,” while Harvard received a nod after some professors canceled classes following Republican Donald Trump’s presidential victory.
The Super Bowl made the list for starting off with “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” known as the Black national anthem, which has been sung ahead of every NFL championship since 2020, the year of the Black Lives Matter heyday.
Rounding out the top 10 were the World Professional Association for Transgender Health; British car manufacturer Jaguar; Penzeys Spices, a Wisconsin-based retailer known for its anti-Trump activism; and the toy brand Mattel.
Why Mattel? The company launched a line of gender-neutral dolls with sexually ambiguous accessories in 2019 called “Creatable World,” although the series appears to have been discontinued. The Washington Times has reached out to Mattel for comment.
The campaign also gave its 2024 Champion of Tolerance award to Robby Starbuck, the conservative activist and filmmaker who prodded multiple corporations to eliminate or scale back their DEI programs as well as end their association with the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
Companies targeted by Mr. Starbuck include John Deere, Ford, Harley Davidson, Caterpillar, Tractor Supply and Walmart, all brands known for their working-class image.
“Robby came at his fight against woke from a unique angle, where he specifically looked at institutions and corporations that historically are known for having a very blue-collar Americana appeal,” Mr. Angelo said. “He pointed out that these brands are engaging in DEI and woke policies that not only undercut the brand, but are actually bad for the brand’s bottom line.”
His efforts put other companies on notice. Mr. Starbuck said in November that Walmart rolled back its DEI initiatives and pulled out of the Corporate Equality Index a week after he contacted the company.
“So there was a ripple effect with Robby’s advocacy this year that had an extreme impact,” said Mr. Angelo, the former president of the Log Cabin Republicans who worked in the first Trump administration.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.