Mayhem in the Magic Kingdom: Disney ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Walkout Underlines Bob Chapek’s Leadership Crisis
variety.comDisney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a crisis of confidence in his leadership that is fueling an atypical level of turmoil at the top of the world’s largest entertainment company.Though Chapek’s current employment contract, expiring next February, is expected to be renewed soon, according to sources, his tenure as CEO has been marked by upheaval since he was named to the job in February 2020.
Some of the disruption has been far out of his control, such as a global pandemic. But Chapek’s own missteps reflect his tendency to keep counsel with a small group of senior executives rather than solicit wider opinions on key decisions.“Chapek has had to deal with a series of catastrophes,” notes Peter Newman, the head of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ MBA/MFA program, who observes that Chapek took over the company when COVID was upending the media and theme park businesses. “But many of his wounds have also been self-inflicted.
A lot of top-level people in Hollywood know how to be smooth and handle things with finesse, and he has not shown that he has that ability.” Chapek may not be in trouble with Disney’s board, but he’s in the doghouse with the company’s 200,000-plus employees around the world.
Disney’s bungled response to Florida’s effort to pass the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would severely restrict public school teachers’ ability to address LGBTQ-related subjects in the classroom, has sparked a revolt among many employees.
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