Bob Chapek’s Toughest Test Yet: Disney’s “Worst Week” Over ‘Don’t’ Say Gay’ Response Could Lead To “Profound Change”

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It’s been a rough first two years for Bob Chapek in Disney’s top job.First came the pandemic, which started days into Chapek’s tenure as CEO, bringing the entertainment industry to a halt.With moviegoing hampered by Covid even after theaters reopened, Disney started releasing movies on streaming, which led to Chapek’s second big challenge: alienating top talent.

Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit and the strongly worded public exchanges with Disney that followed drew gasps in Hollywood and raised questions over how the storied studio would treat its biggest stars under Chapek, a Hollywood outsider who came from Disney’s park division.Now Chapek is facing his biggest test to date: discontent within his own company.

The open internal revolt was sparked by Disney’s botched response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill which would ban classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in the state’s primary schools.After 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.”Chapek’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 sent to the company leadership and in a meeting with Chapek the week before, sent chills around the company, with staffers calling it “tone deaf.”What came next was a week of discontent, which released pent-up anger that had been simmering for a long