California (Reuters) – Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co.’s head of corporate affairs will leave three months after he joined from oil and gas major BP (NYSE:BP) Plc, CEO Bob Chapek said in an email on Friday.
Morrell’s short term has been marked by controversy over the company’s response to a law in Florida that doesn’t allow certain young people to learn about sexual orientation and gender identity in school.
“It has become evident to me that this is not the appropriate match for a variety of reasons,” Morrell said in a second email to his team. “I have chosen to resign from the firm in order to seek other possibilities.”
Reuters has copies of both emails.
Kristina Schake will be in charge of the company’s communications, Chapek said in an email. Over the past 30 years, she has worked for Instagram and the Obama administration. She led President Biden’s vaccination education campaign, as well as worked on Instagram’s communications and for the Obama administration.
Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s general counsel, will oversee government relations and worldwide public policy.
Disney came under fire for first neglecting to come out publicly against the Florida law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by detractors. The corporation said that it worked behind the scenes to influence legislation, a strategy Chapek admits was unsuccessful. In the end, though, he was not happy with the law, and he apologised to the company’s LGBTQ employees for not being a “stronger ally” in the fight for equal rights.
When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law on March 28, Disney said the bill “should never have passed” and that it should be repealed.
Disney’s public criticism led to a new battle in the country’s cultural war. On April 22, Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis signed a law that took away the business’s ability to run its Orlando-area parks.
The corporation has not yet issued a statement about the new legislation, which is scheduled to take effect on June 1, 2023.
