Huge Shakeup at Disney: Top-Level Chief Who Led Woke Response to Florida Bill Is Gone
The Disney executive who led the company’s charge against Florida Republicans over parental rights legislation has walked the plank.
Former Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Geoff Morrell said he will pursue other opportunities, according to The New York Times.
Morrell had joined the embattled entertainment giant in January.
In Florida, we will not use taxpayer dollars to teach kids to hate our country or to hate each other. pic.twitter.com/uLnQMrcMfo
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 24, 2022
Morrell was a key part of the Disney attack on Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over a state law that banned schools from indoctrinating children about gender change while children were in the primary grades.
Disney’s trash-talking attack on DeSantis and others prompted Florida lawmakers to revoke special privileges Disney enjoyed that allowed the company to have what amounted to self-governing status on the lands it owns in Florida in and around Orlando’s Disney World.
BREAKING REPORT: Ron DeSantis doubles down and insists Disney WILL HAVE TO PAY IT’S $2-BILLION debts after entertainment conglomerate claimed Florida would be on the hook if special privileges are revoked…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) April 30, 2022
Disney PR Exec Quits After Botched Response To Florida Law Against Teaching Very Young Kids About Fringe Gender, Sex Theories https://t.co/L6Dj7p7ha6
— Mark Cravens (@MECravens) May 1, 2022
CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo around announcing Morrell’s departure, according to Deadline.
“I am writing to share the news that Geoff Morrell, our Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities,” he wrote.
Morrell admitted Friday in an email to those he supervised that it was time to go.
“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,” he told his team.
Kristina Schake, vice president of global communications, will assume some of Morrell’s role, with other pieces divided among other top executives.
Disney announcement: “Kristina Schake, who has had roles in the Biden and Obama administrations and was also deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, will run communications for the company.”
— Luis H Ball (@ball1_ball) May 1, 2022
Schake was involved in the PR messaging for the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination push and was deputy communications director for Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to Deadline.
Her left-leaning qualifications also include a stint as global communications director for Instagram, special assistant to former President Barack Obama and communications director for former first lady Michelle Obama.
In 2009, Schake co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which advocated for same-sex marriage in California, Deadline reported. The group disbanded after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage.
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