On a sweltering Saturday, roughly 100 demonstrators gathered in Culver City for a rally and march, demanding that major media companies including Sony, Apple, Pinterest, and Amazon MGM Studios sign the “Business for Democracy Pledge” ahead of the November elections, Los Angeles Times reported.
The Bottom Line
- Protesters targeted the local offices of Sony, Apple, Pinterest, and Amazon MGM Studios to demand public commitments to defending democratic norms.
- Organizers delivered letters to corporate chief executives earlier in the week, receiving no responses from the companies.
- The Culver City action coordinates with a nationwide series of events organized alongside May Day Strong.
Marching Past Sony and Amazon Offices
Demonstrators initially gathered outside Culver City’s City Hall to hear remarks from local activists and civic figures. Following the opening speeches, the crowd marched a few blocks to the offices of Sony Pictures Studios. Participants walked past promotional posters for the upcoming Sony release The Social Reckoning before traversing downtown Culver City to stage a demonstration outside the historic Culver Studios, which is currently owned by Amazon MGM.
Local advocacy groups Culver City and Friends Rising and Keep Showing Up organized the protest. Ahead of the Saturday event, these groups dispatched formal letters to the chief executives of Sony, Apple, Pinterest, and Amazon MGM Studios, urging leadership to endorse the “Business for Democracy Pledge.” According to organizers, none of the four corporations responded to the letters, and media inquiries directed to corporate spokespeople went unanswered.
Organizer Arguments and Civic Stakes
Phil Ansell, leader of Culver City and Friends Rising, emphasized the unique leverage held by major enterprises during periods of political tension. “Businesses and particularly large corporations like Sony, Apple, Pinterest and Amazon, who are our focus today, have a particular role to play in defending democracy,” Ansell stated prior to the march, noting that this administration cares what business says. Ansell pointed to international precedents where corporate backing helped stave off shifts toward authoritarianism, urging executives not to wait for another crisis comparable to the events of January 6, 2021.
Bryan “Bubba” Fish, vice-mayor of Culver City, addressed the crowd as a featured speaker, highlighting the relationship between corporate accumulation and stable governance. “The message of this event is that these major corporations, that are the largest and richest corporations in the history of the planet, benefit from our civilized society,” Fish noted. He argued that stable public governance allowed these companies to scale, establishing a baseline expectation that they should publicly defend democratic systems when threatened.
| Target Corporation | Local Culver City Facility | Action Taken by Protesters |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Pictures Studios | Sony Pictures Studios | Rally outside offices, walked past promotional displays |
| Amazon MGM Studios | The Culver Studios | Demonstration outside historic studio lot |
| Apple | Local office | Targeted via executive letters and joint demands |
| Local office | Targeted via executive letters and joint demands |
Broader Coalition Support and National Campaign
Religious leaders and regional labor organizations joined the local activists on Saturday. Reverend Dr. Frances Wattman Rosenau, pastor at the Culver City Presbyterian Church, spoke directly to the crowds assembled outside both Sony and Amazon MGM. “Democracy is one of our core values as a country, and me as a person of faith, I care deeply about giving voice to the voiceless and making sure that no one is marginalized,” Rosenau said. She described corporate partnership as an essential element for the common good.
The Culver City demonstration operates as a regional node in a broader nationwide series of actions coordinated with May Day Strong. Additional organizations participating in Saturday’s events included PowerSwitch Action, National Nurses United, and Singing Resistance Santa Monica. Amy Schur, campaign director with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE, coordinates the national rollout of the “Business for Democracy” pledge.
