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Wednesday, March 11, 2026
What is the most powerful image you have ever seen?
Sean Kernan
Writer at seanjkernan.substack.com
This is one of them.
This man, Brian Banks, was a high school football star. His life fell apart after he was accused of rape by a sixteen year old girl.
She later admitted that it was a lie. He had spent six years in prison at that point. This is him when he found out the case was dismissed.
At the time, he’d been offered a full scholarship to USC to play football. But at the time he got out, he was too out of form and unable to get back up to speed.
It is but one of many huge costs this man paid for this.
He was exonerated after his release, when he recorded a conversation with the woman who had accused him of the crime, where she admitted it never happened, but she was scared to go back on her claim for fear of losing the settlements money she’d received.
The woman was ordered to repay $2.6 million to the Unified School District (she’d sued the school for inadequate security).
Banks only received a measly sum of $150,000 for his time in prison.
Sadly, many people sit in prison right now for crimes they never committed. And they may never be released.
Our justice system needs serious reform.
Writer at seanjkernan.substack.com
This is one of them.
This man, Brian Banks, was a high school football star. His life fell apart after he was accused of rape by a sixteen year old girl.
She later admitted that it was a lie. He had spent six years in prison at that point. This is him when he found out the case was dismissed.
At the time, he’d been offered a full scholarship to USC to play football. But at the time he got out, he was too out of form and unable to get back up to speed.
It is but one of many huge costs this man paid for this.
He was exonerated after his release, when he recorded a conversation with the woman who had accused him of the crime, where she admitted it never happened, but she was scared to go back on her claim for fear of losing the settlements money she’d received.
The woman was ordered to repay $2.6 million to the Unified School District (she’d sued the school for inadequate security).
Banks only received a measly sum of $150,000 for his time in prison.
Sadly, many people sit in prison right now for crimes they never committed. And they may never be released.
Our justice system needs serious reform.
I can't argue with any of this.Most men are gay. They're literally gay. Because they don't really like us women. Our natural bodies, they think it's gross. Our interests, they think it's cringe. Spending time with us, they think it's like a responsibility. And if a guy has a girlfriend, and instead of date… https://t.co/dho0pXcNe0
— Zoya🕊️ (@Zoya_ki_batein) February 21, 2026
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Pixar chief says LGBTQ+ plot elements cut from Elio as company is ‘not making therapy’
Pete Docter says Pixar will concentrate on more commercially appealing films after staff dissent over deleted scenes that implied lead character was gay
Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter said that the reason why LGBTQ+ plot elements were removed from the company’s 2025 film Elio was that Pixar is “not [making] therapy”.
Docter was speaking to the Wall Street Journal in the wake of the successful release of Pixar’s latest film Hoppers, which opened at No 1 at the North American box office this weekend.
Rumours of internal dissent over LGBTQ+ related content emerged in 2022 after publication of a letter signed by “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar & their allies” claimed that studio executives had “barred” moments of gay affection from films before they were released.
The letter read: “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.” It added: “Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest … Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.”
The letter followed Pixar parent company Disney’s lukewarm response to Florida’s “don’t say gay” legislation, banning teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity until fourth grade, which was passed in 2022.
When asked about the issue, Docter replied: “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.”
The WSJ suggested that Elio’s deleted scenes – inspired by co-director Adrian Molina’s childhood – implied the lead character was gay. They included a pink bicycle and a scene in which Elio “imagined raising a child with his male crush”. According to the WSJ, they were removed after test screenings suggested audiences weren’t excited enough to pay to see it. Molina left the film and was replaced by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, who oversaw the changes. In the event, Elio was a flop when it was released in 2025, recording Pixar’s worst ever box office and losing more than $100m.
Win or Lose, which arrived on Disney+ in 2025, was also dogged by claims that a trans character and plotline were removed during the development process. A statement at the time by Disney said: “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognise that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Docter, who directed Monsters Inc, Up and Inside Out, was appointed Pixar’s chief creative officer after company co-founder John Lasseter stepped down in 2018 after claims of inappropriate behaviour.
Given that their films are so expensive to make, and often require costly last-minute overhauls, Docter said that Pixar would concentrate on making more commercially appealing films. After a series of failures of “autobiographical” films, which included titles such as Luca and Elemental, Docter told the WSJ: “As time’s gone on, I realised my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
They're still doing it. They're still trying to normalise their own perversions by targeting other people's children.
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| Elio recorded Pixar’s worst ever box office. Photograph: Pixar/AP |
Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter said that the reason why LGBTQ+ plot elements were removed from the company’s 2025 film Elio was that Pixar is “not [making] therapy”.
Docter was speaking to the Wall Street Journal in the wake of the successful release of Pixar’s latest film Hoppers, which opened at No 1 at the North American box office this weekend.
Rumours of internal dissent over LGBTQ+ related content emerged in 2022 after publication of a letter signed by “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar & their allies” claimed that studio executives had “barred” moments of gay affection from films before they were released.
The letter read: “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.” It added: “Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest … Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.”
The letter followed Pixar parent company Disney’s lukewarm response to Florida’s “don’t say gay” legislation, banning teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity until fourth grade, which was passed in 2022.
When asked about the issue, Docter replied: “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.”
The WSJ suggested that Elio’s deleted scenes – inspired by co-director Adrian Molina’s childhood – implied the lead character was gay. They included a pink bicycle and a scene in which Elio “imagined raising a child with his male crush”. According to the WSJ, they were removed after test screenings suggested audiences weren’t excited enough to pay to see it. Molina left the film and was replaced by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, who oversaw the changes. In the event, Elio was a flop when it was released in 2025, recording Pixar’s worst ever box office and losing more than $100m.
Win or Lose, which arrived on Disney+ in 2025, was also dogged by claims that a trans character and plotline were removed during the development process. A statement at the time by Disney said: “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognise that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Docter, who directed Monsters Inc, Up and Inside Out, was appointed Pixar’s chief creative officer after company co-founder John Lasseter stepped down in 2018 after claims of inappropriate behaviour.
Given that their films are so expensive to make, and often require costly last-minute overhauls, Docter said that Pixar would concentrate on making more commercially appealing films. After a series of failures of “autobiographical” films, which included titles such as Luca and Elemental, Docter told the WSJ: “As time’s gone on, I realised my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
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