Deadline has spoken with several people who had been at Disney for at least a decade who described this as “the worst week” they’ve ever had working at the company.Īccording to sources, employees expressed their disappointment in private conversations and in Zoom open forums held by several Disney divisions. What came next was a week of discontent, which released pent-up anger that had been simmering for a long time. Josh Hawley And Other Republicans Want To End Special 'Handouts' To Disney And Other Corporations, But As Punishment Not Policy (Analysis)Īfter days of silence that had been met internally - in Chapek’s own words - with “disappointment that the company has not issued a public statement condemning the legislation,” the CEO finally spoke up about the bill on Monday, a week after Chapek’s predecessor Bob Iger had criticized the controversial legislation on Twitter, warning that it would “put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.”Ĭhapek’s March 7 memo, in which he explained why Disney would not denounce the bill, despite being urged to do so by LGBTQ+ employees in at least one letter to the company leadership and in a meeting with Chapek the week before, sent chills throughout the company, with staffers calling it “tone deaf.”