Disney employees are reportedly unhappy with the company's new leadership under current CEO Bob Chapek.
As Disney makes the transition from former CEO Bob Iger to Chapek, who took over as CEO in February 2020, several creatives and other high-level employees have reportedly expressed displeasure with the company's new leadership. According to The Hollywood Reporter, one former Disney executive stated, "Every creative person is leaving or losing power."
In June, top Disney employees and board members attended an annual retreat at the Aulani resort in Hawaii. While there, Iger, a proponent of creative risks over market research and data, addressed the company, saying, "In a world and business that is awash with data, it is tempting to use data to answer all of our questions, including creative questions. I urge all of you not to do that."
While Iger was a respected CEO who focused heavily on creative thinking for the brand, Chapek is known more as a numbers-oriented, data-driven businessman with little creative experience. The transition plan, set forth by Iger, was meant to be a smooth transfer of power. Iger's focus was on the creative side as he stepped into the role of executive chairman while Chapek would take on the business side and day-to-day company operations as the new CEO.
"The whole thing was sort of my construct with ultimate buy-in and full support of the board," Iger said, speaking on the transition between CEOs. "I would be around to mentor him for a year and a half while I was concentrating on the creative. He would get up to speed on all things Disney in that period of time. And then, by the time I gave in my Disney ID card, we'd have a transition about as smooth as it could be."
Chapek's recent and most public misstep as CEO of Disney was the now-settled lawsuit between the company and Marvel star Scarlett Johansson. Johansson sued Disney when Black Widow, her final film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was added to Disney+ the same day it was released in theaters, costing the actress millions in revenue. The lawsuit, which began publically, was quickly moved into arbitration and eventually settled. "The thing about Hollywood is, you can behave badly, you can be rude, you can make duds, but the thing you cannot do is fuck with people's money," an anonymous Disney producer said.
While some Disney employees are unhappy with their new CEO, Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and primary producer of the MCU, expressed positive sentiment towards Chapek. "I think he is a creative guy, a nice guy, a real guy," Feige said.
As the transition continues to play out, Chapek has reportedly made aggressive moves to take over the operations of the company. Iger was "being pushed to the sidelines by his successor - not very nicely, by the way," according to IAC chairman Barry Diller, although Iger later denied the claim. The company is undergoing a major reorganization under Chapek as high-level employees and board members shuffle in and out.
"He's very different from me," Iger said. "That doesn't mean he can't do the job well. Give him time. It's the only fair thing to do."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter