Walt Disney’s head of corporate affairs, Geoff Morrell, is leaving the company three months after joining as the entertainment giant grapples with an ongoing crisis over its opposition to a Florida sex education cop.
“It has come to my realization that it is not the right thing to do for a number of reasons,” Morrell wrote in an email to his staff. ‘I have decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.’
CEO Bob Chapek announced this in a separate email to employees.
Kristina Schake will lead the company’s communications efforts, Chapek said in the email.
Morrell’s brief tenure came as the company became embroiled in a firestorm over its public opposition to Florida’s Parent Rights in Education bill—nicknamed the Don’t Say Gay Bill.
Disney has faced angry backlash after opposing the law – which bans the teaching of topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3.
The stock price has since fallen by a third, and CEO Chapek has also felt the heat just two years after taking over from his respected predecessor Bob Iger.
Walt Disney’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Geoff Morrell, is leaving the company three months after leaving oil and energy company BP amid a hectic period of controversy over the House of Mouse
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the Don’t Say Gay Bill, flanked by elementary school students during a news conference Monday, March 28.
Schake previously headed President Joe Biden’s vaccine awareness program, communications for Instagram and work in the Obama administration.
Government relations and global public policy will be led by Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s General Counsel.
Disney has come under criticism for initially failing to publicly oppose what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida.
The company said it worked behind the scenes to influence legislation, an approach Chapek admitted had failed.
He later expressed disappointment with the move and apologized to the company’s LGBTQ employees for not having been “a stronger ally in the fight for equality.”
But the company has angered both parents and conservative politicians, who have also accused Disney of hypocrisy for cutting out LGBT scenes from its films in conservative markets.
Kristina Schake will lead the company’s communications activities. Schake previously headed President Joe Biden’s vaccine awareness program, communications for Instagram and work in the Obama administration
An LGBTQ supporter prepares to hand out signs to attendees to protest Disney’s stance on LGBTQ issues
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act into law on March 28, Disney issued a statement saying it “never should have happened” and that it should be repealed.
DeSantis was furious with Disney’s comments, claiming the California-based company was expressing its left-leaning views on Florida residents.
“You are a Burbank, California-based corporation, and you will use your economic might to attack my state’s parents,” DeSantis said Friday after signing the law. “We see this as a provocation and will defend ourselves against it.”
Disney’s public condemnation opened a new front in the nation’s culture wars, with DeSantis officially stripping Disney of his 55-year-old special privileges that effectively allowed him to govern himself.
DeSantis’ toxic war with the company began when it blew up the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, officially titled the “Parental Rights in Education Bill,” which banned teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in preschool through third excludes grade.
DeSantis signed the summary procedure into law Friday after the media conglomerate began speaking out against the state’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law
Proponents say the law, which was signed into law in March, prevents teachers from forcing inappropriate content on children they believe students are too young to understand. Opponents say the bill is homophobic and that the vagueness of its wording could result in a teacher being reported to authorities for something as small as mentioning his same-sex partner in class
The company said in March it would suspend political donations in the state, adding that it would in turn support organizations opposing the law, officially dubbed Parental Rights in Education.
But DeSantis and his fellow Republicans lashed out at the Orlando resort — to defend the law — before setting out to strip it of its special privileges.
They see the entity that operates Walt Disney World – the Reedy Creek Development District – effectively acting as local government.
Disney is likely to appeal the disbanding of the district, and even conservatives say the company has strong First Amendment arguments for it.
At the signing ceremony for the bill in South Florida earlier this month, DeSantis said Disney lied about the content of the education law, but that he viewed the company’s vow to fight the law as unacceptable.
Proponents say the law, which was signed into law in March, prevents teachers from forcing inappropriate content on children they believe students are too young to understand.
Opponents say the bill is homophobic and that the vagueness of its wording could result in a teacher being reported to authorities for something as small as mentioning his same-sex partner in class.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek attends the 94th Academy Awards
LBGT+ employees protested the bill and called on the company to take a stand
The company has not yet issued a statement on the new law, which would come into effect on June 1, 2023.
Disney was initially silent on the bill, but the firm – which has a long-standing track record of supporting its LGBT employees – is said to have looked into the issue after being pressured by woke internal diversity factions who now allegedly exercising growing influence over bosses there.
CEO Bob Chapek later spoke after walkouts by a small number of Disney employees — and angered DeSantis by openly suggesting his company was pressuring lawmakers.
After blowing up the bill, he said: “As I wrote to our staff earlier this week, we are committed to supporting community organizations like this so they are prepared for these struggles.
“In the meantime, we’re also reconsidering our approach to advocacy, including political donations, in Florida and beyond.”
What is the Parental Rights in Education Act?
HB 1557 was introduced by two Republican members of the Florida Legislature – Rep. Joe Harding and Senator Dennis Baxley.
They say the bill’s goal is to “empower” “parents” in their children’s education and get teachers to see the difference between “teaching” and “discussion.”
“What we forbid is teaching them a specific direction,” Baxley said of how teachers direct students in a classroom.
“Students can talk about anything they want to bring up, but sometimes the right answer is, ‘You really should talk to your parents about it.’
The law applies to children in kindergarten through third grade.
It states that “classroom teaching by school staff or third parties about sexual orientation or gender identity must not take place”.
It also requires that districts “establish procedures for notifying a student’s parents if there are changes in the student’s services or supervision related to the student’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being,” something LGBTQ advocates said could result in students being outed to their parents without the student’s knowledge or consent.
It was approved on March 8 by a vote of 22 to 17. The State House approved the bill late last month. DeSantis signed it on March 28th and it goes into effect on July 1st.