Marginalized creators feel the financial sting of brands’ DEI pullback

Six months into the year, creators who previously leveraged diversity and equity to build their sponsorship businesses have seen this revenue stream drop off or disappear entirely. Last year, Twitch streamer Alex Norimaki signed 14 brand deals around Black History Month and Women’s History Month; so far this year, she has had one DEI-focused partnership, a Black History Month sponsorship by Twitch.

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“There’s usually so many brands that reach out specifically to Black creators — and, in recent years, they were doing a heavy push for Black women creators as well. I’ve been at this for five years now, and it’s like clockwork,” she said. “This year, they just did not come.” The creator added that she had experienced a “very noticeable” drop in sponsorship income, but declined to share a specific revenue drop figure.

Four creators across different marginalized identities told Digiday anecdotally that their revenue has been hit by brands’ pullback from DEI messaging.

“The pullback has been for not just LGBTQ+ creators, but for anything that’s cultural or orientation-based,” said mixed-race creator Erin Ashley Simon, who said that she hasn’t signed a single DEI-focused brand partnership in 2025 after leaving XSET, a diversity and inclusion-focused esports organization, at the beginning of the year.

Veronica “Nikatine” Ripley, a transgender and Latina creator, said that her diversity-focused partnership business dropped off considerably between 2024 and 2025, although she did not provide specific numbers.

“My personal business has definitely been affected. I’ve been passed over or dropped by longtime brand partners,” said Ripley, who declined to name specific partners that had dropped her to avoid damaging professional relationships. “Big brands are just silent now; opportunities are almost completely limited to fundraisers for other queer organizations.”

Across the board, creators blamed the current sociopolitical climate in the United States for brands’ pullback from diversity or equity messaging, with prospective sponsors increasingly cagey about political scrutiny or boycotts sparked by their involvement with creators perceived as pushing DEI. 

In particular, government organizations’ sunsetting of so-called “identity months” such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month and Pride Month have put a chill on brands’ spending around them. In the past, these months were boom periods that allowed marginalized creators to pack away brand partnership revenue for the rest of the year; now, for creators, they’re just like any other month.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to lean on national months and holidays for this inclusion — but it was the month when we could at least expect companies to halfway pretend to have us be a part of the conversation,” AlexNorimaki said. “So, now, we’re just not very hopeful for the rest of the year.”

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The wider pullback from DEI marketing is bad news for marginalized creators, but it also creates opportunities for some advertisers to build stronger bonds with these creators and their fans, creators told Digiday. Both creators and audiences from marginalized communities increasingly feel overlooked by the advertising industry, making it all the more valuable when brands and marketers choose to stand by them.

“This is a window of advantage for brands,” said Sheryl Daija, CEO of Bridge, a marketing industry trade organization focused on promoting diversity and equity. “While some might go quiet, others that are staying consistent are gaining ground, building reputational trust and relevance. Despite the politicization of DEI, the high potential growth markets haven’t gone anywhere.”

One particularly effective way for brands to build connections with marginalized communities is to work with micro- or mid-tier influencers whose audiences index highly within those communities, according to Raul Rios, head of strategy for the creative agency Saylor, who cited data from e-commerce ad tech tool Cropink showing that 73 percent of Gen Z consumers trust micro-influencer recommendations over celebrity endorsements.

“Brands that invest here don’t just maintain visibility,” Rios said. “They build sustained cultural credibility.”