Disney CEO Chapek In Damage Control Mode Ahead Of Workforce Walkout

With less than a year left before his corporate contract is up for renewal, Walt Disney Co.’s DIS embattled CEO Bob Chapek is struggling to mitigate a skein of disruptions that have tarnished his leadership and placed the company in the center of multiple controversies.

What Happened: Deadline is reporting the company has postponed its management retreat scheduled for next week in favor of a listening tour designed to address concerns raised about how the company communicates with its workforce.

The postponed management retreat comes in the wake of Chapek’s response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which brought an unprecedented internal revolt that included Disney workers berating their employer on public media. The leadership of three Disney content-creating subsidiaries — Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar — have also voiced their unhappiness on this matter.

Chapek hosted a company-wide town hall meeting yesterday where he repeated his regret in not initially taking a public position against the bill. He also conceded the company should be more publicly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, pledging to bring in a third-party adviser to monitor the company’s efforts on this front while developing a task force to create engagement plans to improve communications with LGBTQ+ employees, community partners and content creators.

The town hall was held ahead of today’s planned walkout by Disney employees protesting Chapek’s response to the Don’t Say Gay issue. Mini-walkouts lasting roughly 15 minutes have been held over the past week.

See Also: Analysis: Amid 'Lightyear' Kiss, Here Are Major Milestones In Bringing LGBTQ Characters Into Animated Film, TV Series

Why It Matters: Chapek became Disney’s CEO in February 2020, signing a three-year contract that next February. Over the past year, he has been at the center of multiple public relations catastrophes ranging from his decision to restore executive pay cut during the COVID-19 pandemic while thousands of Disney theme park employees remained furloughed to his failed efforts at denigrating Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit over a breach of contract relating to her “Black Widow” lawsuit. (The case was settled out of court).

Chapek has also weathered complaints from within the company, with several high-profile media articles featuring unnamed Disney employees bemoaning his leadership, and some fans of the Disney theme parks started an online petition demanding his ouster because of the changes he brought to their beloved attractions.

Within the past week, Chapek's leadership team was faulted for Disney’s decision to cancel the Blue Sky Studios’ production of “Nimona” when it was 75% completed because of the story’s LGBTQ content, while CNBC ran an unflattering article on a reported feud between Chapek and his predecessor, Bob Iger.

Public relations notwithstanding, Chapek’s influence on investor relations has also been dismal lately. Disney shares opened for trading Tuesday morning at $139.16, closer to its 52-week low of $128.38 and far from the 52-week high of $192.34.

Photo: Bob Chapek and friends, courtesy of Walt Disney Television / Flickr Creative Commons