Leaked Disney memo reveals plan to shut down Hulu app by end of 2026
A leaked internal Disney memo reveals the company plans to fully absorb Hulu into Disney+ and shut down the standalone Hulu app by the end of 2026. The document, obtained by Business Insider, describes the effort internally as Project Gemini. The timing is awkward: Disney had publicly stated just one day before the leak that it had "no current plans" to discontinue Hulu.
The plan
Under Project Gemini, all Hulu content and features would migrate into Disney+. Once that transition is complete, Disney intends to deactivate Hulu's app and technical infrastructure entirely. The memo also makes clear that active development on Hulu has already stopped — according to 9to5Mac, anonymous employees described the service as being "on life support" with "no active development." Resources have been quietly redirected toward building out Disney+ instead.
Disney says it may preserve different subscription tiers — including ad-supported and ad-free options — within the unified platform after the integration is done. Bundle packages are also expected to continue in some form, though specifics on pricing haven't been announced.
What this means for subscribers
For the roughly 50 million Hulu subscribers in the US, the most immediate question is what happens to their accounts and pricing once the migration is complete. Disney hasn't detailed how existing Hulu-only subscribers will be moved over, or whether they'll face a price increase on Disney+.
The picture is murkier for Hulu + Live TV customers. That product is now tied to a partnership with Fubo — a sports-heavy streaming service — following a deal struck in October 2025. How those subscribers fit into a Disney+-only world remains unclear, particularly given Fubo's ongoing legal complaints against Disney over sports bundling practices.
The credibility gap
Disney's public denial — issued May 27, 2026, one day before Business Insider published the leaked memo — is hard to square with the document's contents. The memo lays out a specific end-2026 deadline, confirms development has been frozen, and describes a full decommissioning plan. It puts Disney in an uncomfortable position with users who may have made subscription decisions based on the company's public assurances. No Disney executive has since confirmed or addressed the Project Gemini timeline on the record.
