Fact Check: Kurt Russell Ended His Longtime Relationship with 'Woke Disney'?

Claim:

Actor Kurt Russell ended his relationship with "woke Disney," saying: "I've wasted enough of my career on them."

Rating:

Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )

On Aug. 4, 2024, the Facebook page America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) posted a meme claiming longtime actor Kurt Russell ended his relationship with The Walt Disney Company ( archived ) .

Text in the meme said: "Kurt Russell Ends his Relationship with Woke Disney: 'I've wasted enough of My Career on Them'."

(America's Last Line of Defense/Facebook)

Meanwhile, ALLOD's caption read:

Russell has been on a roll lately, shaking off the wokeness that has tried to take over his life and his career:

"Hollywood is in big trouble if it doesn't check itself and change some things."

We couldn't agree more.

As of this writing, the post had received more than 41,000 likes and 3,500 shares, with some readers interpreting the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events.

One Facebook user wrote: " I have loved Kurt Russell for 56 years, and now I do even more! The best!!!" Another said: "I absolutely agree with Kurt Russell on Disney and Hollywood."

However, there was no evidence 73-year-old Russell severed his relationship with "woke Disney," and no reputable news outlets covered this supposed story.

Rather, the rumor about the actor severing his working relationship with the entertainment giant originated with the Facebook page ALLOD — an account affiliated with satire news site the Dunning-Kruger Times . The ALLOD page, classified as "Satire/Parody," has a history of fabricating stories for shares and comments. As such, we rated this claim as "Labeled Satire."

The badge in the bottom-left corner of the Russell meme displayed ALLOD's name and a "Satire" label. In addition, the introduction of the ALLOD Facebook page stated : "The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real."

Indeed, Russell has maintained a long working relationship with Disney ( archived ) spanning decades, having been cast in his first Disney feature film, " Follow Me, Boys! " at age 15 after signing a 10-year contract with the studio in 1966.

Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about Russell by ALLOD in the past, including the assertion he said George Clooney "hasn't worked in years" because "he's arrogant," and the claim that working with Robert De Niro was the worst six weeks of his life .

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

Sources:

- YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMXGMsH3lZQ. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "Aug 10, 1972, Page 8 - The Childress Index at Newspapers.Com." Newspapers.Com , https://www.newspapers.com/image/43739532/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "Aug 17, 1967, Page 13 - The Daily Item at Newspapers.Com." Newspapers.Com , https://www.newspapers.com/image/947204546/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. Derks, David. "Disney Rediscovered – When Kurt Russell Was Disney's Biggest Star." MiceChat , 31 Mar. 2021, https://www.micechat.com/285782-disney-rediscovered-when-kurt-russell-was-disneys-biggest-star/. "Did Kurt Russell Have a Falling out with Disney?" Go to Movies r/Movies , July 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1dopalk/did_kurt_russell_have_a_falling_out_with_disney/. Follow Me, Boys! (1966) - Trivia - IMDb . www.imdb.com , https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060420/trivia/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "Kurt Russell." D23 , https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/kurt-russell/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "Kurt Russell | Actor, Producer, Writer." IMDb , https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000621/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "Kurt Russell Confirms That Legend About Walt Disney's Last Words." HuffPost , 27 Apr. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walt-disneys-last-words-were-kurt-russell-according-to-kurt-russell_n_59002e87e4b0af6d718998fa. "Kurt Russell Reflects on Mentor Walt Disney: I Learned 'How to Make Movies' from Him." IMDb , https://www.imdb.com/news/ni61291384/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. Log in or Sign up to View . https://www.facebook.com/login/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. --- . https://www.facebook.com/login/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. Magazine, Taylor Neumann, ReMIND. "Kurt Russell: The Face of Disney For Over A Decade." Mid Florida Newspapers , 9 Feb. 2022, https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/triangle_news_leader/kurt-russell-the-face-of-disney-for-over-a-decade/article_828346b8-8861-11ec-ab18-e31e21e613b3.html. Post, The Washington. "Were Walt Disney's Dying Words Really 'Kurt Russell'? As 'Guardians' Opens, Urban Legend Persists." East Bay Times , 4 May 2017, https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/05/04/were-walt-disneys-dying-words-really-kurt-russell-as-disneys-guardians-opens-the-urban-legend-persists/. Russian , Ale. "Kurt Russell Reflects on Mentor Walt Disney: I Learned 'How to Make Movies' from Him." People , 10 July 2017, https://people.com/movies/kurt-russell-reflects-on-mentor-walt-disney. "Sep 01, 1971, Page 76 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.Com." Newspapers.Com , https://www.newspapers.com/image/385407914/. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. "The True Story Behind Walt Disney's Mysterious 'Last Words.'" Country Living , 2 June 2017, https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a43376/walt-disneys-last-words-kurt-russell/.