“After talking this over with [Disney CEO] Bob [Chapek], I have decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.”In other words...
Posted on 04/30/2022 8:27:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Geoff Morrell, the chief corporate affairs officer who helped architect Disney’s public response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, has decided to leave the company.
“After three months in this new role, it has become clear to me that for a number of reasons it is not the right fit,” Morrell said in a letter to his team that CNBC has obtained. “After talking this over with [Disney CEO] Bob [Chapek], I have decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.”
Kristina Schake, who Disney hired earlier this month, will lead Disney’s communications efforts and report directly to Chapek. Schake will have “oversight for corporate and segment communications and continue to be our chief spokesperson,” Chapek said in a note to Disney staff obatined by CNBC.
Morrell’s three-month tenure has been rocky. He took the job after years as the chief spokesman for oil and energy giant BP. Prior to that, he was a White House correspondent at ABC News and chief spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
According to people who worked with him, Morrell set out to be more transparent with Disney’s communication than his predecessor, Zenia Mucha, who was known to closely guard Disney’s image.
After starting his job Jan. 24, Morrell guided Disney and Chapek to publicly explain why it hadn’t taken a public stand on Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which barred some elementary school instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity. Chapek wrote a letter to staff on March 7 explaining why Disney hadn’t publicly made a statement condemning the legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Not gay enough?
I think Morrell has been made a scapegoat. He actually wanted Disney to dissociate itself from making any public political stance.
From the article:
He feared if Disney took a public stand against “Don’t Say Gay,” the company may also have to publicly fight future human rights issues, including potential offenses from China, an important market for Disney content.
Morrell also feared potential 2024 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has championed the bill, would use Disney as a punching bag if the company opposed the bill.
Morrell has been proven correct in recent weeks, after Disney quickly reversed its decision to stay silent amid large protests from Disney employees.
Both Trump and DeSantis have come after Disney’s public challenge of “Don’t Say Gay.” DeSantis signed a bill earlier this month that removes certain privileges granted to Disney decades concerning the land surrounding its Disney World theme park.
But by explaining Disney’s decision not to take a stand on “Don’t Say Gay,” rather than simply not taking a public position, Morrell’s strategy opened up the company to months of protest that could have been avoided. Disney employees have held walkouts and run social media campaigns with the hashtag “FireChapek” after the company’s dithering response.
“After talking this over with [Disney CEO] Bob [Chapek], I have decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.”In other words...
The new communications director.
The company has hired Kristina Schake to lead global communications for the company as its executive vp, reporting to chief corporate affairs officer Geoff Morrell.
Schake most recently led the national COVID-19 vaccine education campaign for the Biden administration, and before that was global communications director for Instagram. Like Morrell and Disney’s last head of communications Zenia Mucha, Schake is a veteran of politics, having worked as deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, and in the Obama White House as special assistant to the president and communications director for Michelle Obama.
It is fun watching the liberal uber elites destroying their own in public!
Schake joins Disney at a tense time for the company, as it grapples with the fallout from its response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The company initially faced blowback from employees that were angry it did not take a public stand on the bill, but after reversing course and announcing that it opposed its passage, the company has been scrutinized by Florida legislators, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have used the company as a political punching bag.
Is that a smoldering crater in his wake?
Need the HaHa cartoon guy.
Well, that’s 1 down
Now their brand is completely ruined. They will never get that trust back unless they immediately apologize and cut a deal with DeSantis on keeping their self-rule law. And give everyone who cancelled their Disney Plus subscription a free year of streaming, and half-off of all Disney cruises and Disneyworld attractions.
Just a bone-headed blunder that makes New Coke look like marketing genius.
But by explaining Disney’s decision not to take a stand on “Don’t Say Gay,” rather than simply not taking a public position, Morrell’s strategy opened up the company to months of protest that could have been avoided.
Is that Bischoff that McMahon is yelling at?
He may find his new job involves a glory hole.
Should have told the employees to STFU - or just fired them.
He probably got 18 months of severance....not bad for 3 months of work.
Sounds like the employees got angry and couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
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