Photo Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
After being fired from her longtime role as Marvel’s VFX and post-production president, Victoria Alonso is ready to hit back at claims about why she lost her job. Patty Glaser, Alonso’s attorney, issued a statement to Variety on Friday denying that Alonso was fired for her role as a producer on “Argentina, 1985.” Instead, Glaser claimed that her client was “silenced” by Disney. (And no, she didn’t mention the heavily criticized visual effects in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.)
first reported that Alonso’s 1985 stint in Argentina – which Amazon Studios helped produce – violated a contract she signed with Disney in 2018 that prohibited her from working with the company’s competitors. THR claimed the veteran executive was given a pass on the condition that she would stick with Marvel projects and not sponsor other work. Allegedly, Alonso’s decision to promote Argentina led to her exit in 1985 anyway. “The idea that Victoria was fired for a handful of press interviews related to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Oscar and that she was allowed to work on with Disney’s blessing is absolutely ridiculous,” Glaser replied. “Victoria, a gay Latina who had the guts to criticize Disney, was silenced.”
Multiple outlets have hinted that this is a reference to Alonso’s comments at the 2022 GLAAD Awards, where she called out then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek about his handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. She was reportedly told after the awards show that she could no longer press for Marvel. According to Glaser, Alonso was eventually “fired when she refused to do something she felt was reprehensible.” The attorney did not provide further details, although Deadline reports that the incident involved a Disney executive who is not current CEO Bob Iger. “Disney and Marvel made a really bad decision that will have dire consequences,” Glaser concluded. “There’s a lot more to this story and Victoria will be sharing it shortly – in one forum or another.”
A Disney spokesman later responded to the attorney’s statement, denying the claims. “It is unfortunate that Victoria shares a narrative that omits several key factors relating to her departure, including an undeniable breach of contract and a direct breach of company policy,” the spokesman said in a statement. “We will continue to wish her the best in the future and thank her for her many contributions to the studio.”