Disney Executive Who Left After ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Controversy Made … – The Epoch Times
A Walt Disney Company executive who was fired after he instigated a fight against the Florida “Don’t Say Gay’ controversy raked in more than $100,000 per day in his brief stint in Hollywood.
The executive, Geoff Morrell, who was hired as Disney’s chief corporate affairs officer in January 2021, lasted only three months at the job.
In one of the largest rewards for corporate failure, he amassed a gargantuan $8,365,403 in total compensation, or roughly $119,505 a day, over a brief 70-weekday period, according to Disney’s securities filing on Jan. 16.
When taking into account the payouts associated with his termination agreement, the per-day figure skyrocketed to $176,746.
The former communications chief was partly responsible for the media giant’s controversial response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibited teachers from discussing homosexuality with students until after the third grade.
Florida’s move to protect children has been popular with millions of Disney fans.
Morrell led the charge in one of the family entertainment company’s biggest public relations disasters, despite the initial hesitancy of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
Disney has been forced to clean up the mess by bringing back its former CEO, Bob Iger, to succeed Chapek, after the battle with Florida authorities lost the company billions of dollars and endangered Disney World’s tax-exempt status in the Sunshine State.
Compensation for Corporate Failure
The home of Mickey Mouse spent roughly $500,000 to move Morrell’s family to Los Angeles from London and then another half-million dollars to send them back home after he was fired.
After Morell’s termination, Disney reported that it bought back the $4.5 million Southern California home that he had purchased.
Morrell, a former official at the Pentagon official, was brought to Disney from BP, with a base salary of $489,500 and a $2.8 million bonus upon joining, in compensation for leaving his position at the oil company, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The former Pentagon official was also given generous stock benefits, options, and other compensation totaling $5.1 million.
The former PR chief’s latent response to the child protection bill pitted his boss, Chapek, against Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, which ended up offending both the studio’s traditional base and many of the leftist staff.
Morrell and his boss, Chapek, at first tried aggressively to prevent Disney from getting involved in politics and speaking out against the Florida bill, which led to mass employee protests.
LGBTQ Disney employees staged major protests against their own boss over his decision to not immediately condemn the legislation.
Morrell told reporters that Chapek prefered to remain on the sidelines because he was “not an activist” and did not want to “bring any partisan agenda to work,” reported the New York Post.
“Whatever Bob’s personal politics are, he’s not an activist and does not bring any partisan agenda to work. He sees himself first and foremost as the custodian of a unifying brand that for nearly a century has been bringing people together, and he is determined that Disney remain a place where everyone is treated with dignity and respect,” Morell stated.
“He believes the best way we can help create a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support,” he added.
Leftwing Hollywood Big Shots and Disney Worker Pressure Studio Leadership to Oppose Law
Leftist Hollywood insiders were embittered by the studio’s response, and quietly added pressure on the CEO and his PR chief to act by questioning their commitment to their jobs and progressive ideology.
Big media players started to lobby for the return of Iger, who was known for his positive support for homosexual causes and was vocally against the Florida bill, the New York Post reported.
Disney executives started to leak to the press that Morrell opposed the idea of joining corporations, such as Amazon and Apple, in signing a letter from homosexual advocacy group The Human Rights Campaign in opposition to the bill.
Anger among left-leaning Disney staffers further worsened after the leak, causing a corporate crisis, as disgruntled employees denounced their embattled CEO and went on a walkout.
After two weeks of protests, Chapek quickly changed course last March and went into damage control by issuing a response by condemning the bill and apologizing to Disney workers, reported the New York Post.
“Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was,” wrote Chapek.
“It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights.”
“You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights, and I let you down. I am sorry,” he said.
Go Woke and Go Broke
DeSantis and Florida Republicans felt betrayed by Chapek and moved to strip Disney of its Reedy Creek Improvement District, which gives the company quasi-governmental control over its theme park properties in the state, along with generous tax benefits.
Morrell resigned in April, telling employees in a memo: “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,” according to Fox News.
“I have decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities,” he continued.
The former Disney PR boss now serves as Teneo’s president of global strategy and communications.
In November, the board of Walt Disney ousted Chapek as the CEO and replaced him with their old boss, Bob Iger.
Meanwhile, shares of the company have fared quite poorly across the board, with the value of the once mighty brand tumbling 45 percent last year, in its worse stock performance since 1974.