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Person

Susan Disney Lord

Nationality:

American
Born:

1958
Occupation:

Philanthropist, Restaurant owner, Foundation Board Member

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Susan Disney Lord is the daughter of Roy E. Disney, who was a longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company as well as the nephew of Walt Disney. 1

Lord is a board member of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation. That foundation has become more focused on left-of-center advocacy after the younger Disney family members who are in their 20s and 30s and involved in the board became “awakened” after Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016. 2 She produced a film that was critical of Walt Disney Company’s treatment of its employees. 3

In 2016, she co-authored an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat advocating for more gun control laws after the Pulse Nightclub shooting. 4 Lord has donated to an anti-Donald Trump political group 5 and attended a fundraiser in 2020 for Joe Biden, for which tickets cost $500,000 per person. 6

Personal

Lord was born in 1958 and is the daughter of Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy E. Disney, and Patricia Ann Dailey. 7 She is the mother of five children 8 and owner of The Bel-Air fine-dining restaurant in Los Angeles. 9 In 2014, Lord sold her beachfront home in Malibu for $18 million, according to Variety. 10

Early Life

Lord worked as a candy striper hospital volunteer while she was in high school. 11 When Lord turned 18, she was made a board member of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation. She was allowed to make annual grants of $10,000 to organizations of her choice and gave to a children’s hospital. 12

Philanthropy
Lord is the board chairperson and president of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation which has $140.9 million in total assets as of 2019. 13 This foundation gave $75,000 to the left-of-center ACLU Foundation of Southern California in 2019. 14 The foundation supports liberal criminal justice policies, affordable housing, and environmentalist issues. 15

Lord is co-chair of Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, an organization that provides support and education for people with Alzheimer’s disease. 16 She advocates for increased state funding on Alzheimer’s causes. 17

Political Activism

Lord gave $100,000 to the anti-Donald Trump Lincoln Project political action committee. 18 Lord attended a fund raiser supporting Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in September 2020 that raised $4.5 million; tickets were priced at $500,000 per person. 19

Gun Control

In June 2016, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. He had previously pledged allegiance to ISIS. 20

A year later, Lord and her brother Timothy Disney co-authored an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat calling for more gun laws. 21 Lord wrote that the shooting now reminds her of Orlando, not the opening of Walt Disney World she witnessed in 1971. 22

Lord wrote that “hate-fueled gun violence is far from uncommon” and stated that “easy access to firearms” led to the shooting. 23 Lord called for leaders to “implement common sense gun laws and close the loopholes” so that guns can be kept out of the hands of “hate-filled people.” 24

Lord asked people to sign a petition sponsored by Everytown for Gun Safety, a lobbying group that advocates for gun control measures. 25

Film and Other Works

Lord was an executive producer for a live reading of The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts, a stage adaption of Robert Mueller’s report on alleged collusion between Russian agents and the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election. 26 The cast included actors Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Jason Alexander, Mark Hamill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others. 27 An investigation by the RealClearFoundation reported that Mueller’s investigation found that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia to steal the 2016 election and that Mueller used many “rhetorical devices” to craft a narrative that cleared Trump but at the same time could be read “as an indictment.” 28

The 2022 documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power used 175 film clips from “some of the most beloved works in Hollywood” to show how movies have “disempowered and oversexualized” women while revealing the “serious issue of misogyny” in Hollywood. 29 Lord was an executive producer for the movie and most of the film’s funding came from the Disney family. 30

Abigail Disney, Lord’s sister, made a 2022 movie called The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales criticizing the way Walt Disney Company treats its theme park employees. 31 Lord helped produce the film. 32

References

  1. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  2. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  3. Brooks Barnes. “Documentary Critical Of Disney, From The Disney Family.” New York Times. Jan. 23, 2022. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/business/media/abigail-disney-documentary.html
  4. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  5. Audrey Conklin. “Who Are The Lincoln Project PAC Top Donors?” Fox News. Feb. 13, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lincoln-project-pac-top-donors
  6. Ted Johnson. “Haim Saban’s Fundraiser For Joe Biden Raises $4.5 Million.” Deadline. Sept. 14, 2020. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://deadline.com/2020/09/haim-saban-joe-biden-fundraiser-adam-schiff-1234576682/
  7. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  8. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  9. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  10. Mark David. “Disney Grandniece Ditches Malibu Beachfront Spread.” Variety. July 29, 2014. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://variety.com/2014/dirt/news/disney-grandniece-ditches-malibu-beachfront-spread-1201270493/
  11. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  12. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  13. Roy And Patricia Disney Family Foundation. Form 990. 2019. Part II. Balance Sheets. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/61-1777495
  14. Roy And Patricia Disney Family Foundation. Form 990. 2019. Part XV. Line 3. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/61-1777495
  15. Ade Adeniji. “How Multiple Generations Of The Disney Family Come Together To Fund Social Justice In LA And Beyond.” National Center For Family Philanthropy. Dec. 22, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/12/22/how-multiple-generations-of-the-disney-family-come-together-to-fund-social-justice-in-la-and-beyond
  16. Alzheimer’s Los Angeles. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/giving2021/story/2021-12-13/alzheimers-los-angeles
  17. Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://thewomensalzheimersmovement.org/alzheimermembers/susan-disney-lord/
  18. Audrey Conklin. “Who Are The Lincoln Project PAC Top Donors?” Fox News. Feb. 13, 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lincoln-project-pac-top-donors
  19. Ted Johnson. “Haim Saban’s Fundraiser For Joe Biden Raises $4.5 Million.” Deadline. Sept. 14, 2020. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://deadline.com/2020/09/haim-saban-joe-biden-fundraiser-adam-schiff-1234576682/
  20. Ralph Ellis. Ashley Fantz. Faith Karimi. Eliott C. McLaughlin. “Orlando Shooting: 49 Killed, Shooter Pledged ISIS Allegiance.” CNN. June 13, 2016. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/index.html
  21. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  22. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  23. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  24. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  25. Susan Disney Lord. Timothy Disney. “Disney And Disney: It’s Time To #DisarmHate.” Tallahassee Democrat. June 14, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/06/14/disney-and-disney-its-time-disarmhate/393007001/
  26. Stephi Wild. “Live Now: Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow And More Read Robert Schenkkan’s Mueller Report Play.” Broadway World. June 24, 2019. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Annette-Bening-Kevin-Kline-John-Lithgow-and-More-Set-For-Live-Presentation-Of-Robert-Schenkkans-Mueller-Report-Play-20190624
  27. Stephi Wild. “Live Now: Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow And More Read Robert Schenkkan’s Mueller Report Play.” Broadway World. June 24, 2019. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Annette-Bening-Kevin-Kline-John-Lithgow-and-More-Set-For-Live-Presentation-Of-Robert-Schenkkans-Mueller-Report-Play-20190624
  28. Eric Felton. “Insinuendo: Why The Mueller Report Doth Repeat So Much.” RealClearInvestigations. July 1, 2019. Accessed March 3, 2022. https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/06/28/insinuendo_why_the_muller_report_doth_repeat_so_much_.html
  29.  Stephanie Ornelas. “Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power Is Fueling Female Empowerment.” Jan. 22, 2022. Accessed March 3, 2022. https://www.sundance.org/blogs/festival-blog/brainwashed-sex-camera-power-is-fueling-female-empowerment/
  30. Katie Kilkenny. “Sundance: ‘Brainwashed’ Doc Examines The Subtle (And Not-So-Subtle) Ways Women Are Objectified Onscreen.” Jan. 21, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/sundance-brainwashed-doc-examines-the-subtle-and-not-so-subtle-ways-women-are-objectified-onscreen-1235076745/
  31. Brooks Barnes. “Documentary Critical Of Disney, From The Disney Family.” New York Times. Jan. 23, 2022. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/business/media/abigail-disney-documentary.html
  32. Brooks Barnes. “Documentary Critical Of Disney, From The Disney Family.” New York Times. Jan. 23, 2022. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/business/media/abigail-disney-documentary.html
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