A Disney executive who “allegedly” helped pen Disney’s original non-involvement public response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, 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.
This change-up in leadership comes a few months after the revelation that Disney which had always been a strong LGBT ally had supported Florida’s controversial bill. Eventually, The Walt Disney Company issued a formal statement disavowing the bill after much blowback, but in the end it too late to fully save face thus facing backlash from both the LGBT community and the extreme right wing GOP/Q.
Disney is claims that it was Morrell who guided Disney and CEO Bob Chapek to publicly explain why it hadn’t taken a public stand on Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
Morrell (a former BP executive) will be replaced by former President Biden appointee Kristina Schake who was hired earlier this month and will lead Disney’s communications efforts, reporting 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.
Is Morell playing the patsy and falling on the sword for Bob Chapek? This we may never know.
What we do know is that Disney has a long way to go to make amends to the LGBT community because the passage and signing into law of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay Bill emboldened the GOP and the is just the start of a war against what rights we have been able to gain so far.
Be warned. More attacks are coming.