Nobody in Hollywood got fired, why Disney’s Peter Rice? –

HHollywood is a place where no matter what you post, they will never let you go. Only at Disney, the head of the studio Jeffrey Katzenberg The then president and CEO were not fired Michael Eisner In 1994, he threw it out the window. miguel ovitz He was not released when Eisner did the same thing in 1996. deer tone not released when Bob Iger In 2016, he was fired as COO Steve McPhersonThe dismissal of the ABC boss in 2010 amid a sexual harassment investigation has not been ruled out. Everyone had the right to resign.

Inside bob chapek era, Jeff MorelThe corporate director who was sacked in late April after three catastrophic months was allowed to resign, saying the new role was “not suitable”. But peter rice, a respected executive with more than three decades of professional experience in the industry? He was fired during a brief meeting in Chapek’s office on June 9 with a head of human resources. Paul Richardson Beside him. The reaction in Hollywood was swift and disastrous, and nothing that emerged in this case changed that impression. At this point, it’s fair to say that Hollywood audiences don’t like Chapek. But to give Rice a more graceful exit, industry veterans admitted that Chapek was not the first to find a possible successor to the city’s great tradition. “He still snatches defeat from the grip of victory,” said the former Disney insider. Adds one of the city’s leading statesmen: “This guy just doesn’t know how to be thin.”

blessed hat Dana Walden On the ground: “a very successful, brilliant and beloved executive, not on the surface, but on the outside,” who could be promoted to Rice’s role, says a veteran with studio connections.

Walden is respected and feared enough to be protected enough by some of the powers that be in the same industry who don’t like Chapek that there’s no danger of him taking a hit that might have hit someone as an unworthy interlocutor. So it would be consensual to think that it’s not surprising that a shrewd and ambitious player like Walden has managed to climb another ladder, a ladder, as some have pointed out, that puts him very close to the top. (What does “Disney’s First CEO” sound on board?)

For reference, Disney leaders offered no explanation as to why they treated Rice so rudely without scandal (for Hollywood) more than 30 years after she built a career in the industry. (In 2019, the referee awarded $178 million to the creative team that made the Fox show. bones However, the show has seemed a little blurry in recent episodes; While waiting for Disney to acquire Fox, then-Disney CEO Iger issued a statement of “full confidence in its character and integrity”, noting that Disney was not interfering. So the dispute was resolved and now both are considered scandal-free.)

Some of the answers have started to come in, many of them likely from the upper echelons of Disney. sources say THR Within the company was a group, including an influential CFO Cristina McCarthy, who saw Rice as an outsider who would never fit into Disney culture. (McCarthy also played a role in Morel’s removal.) But explanations that emerged continued as the garden’s diversity in the power struggle, which did not explain the apparently virulent shooting. Wall Street Journal For example, on June 13, it was reported that there was “tension with other high-ranking officials” and that Rice was trying to spend unspent money on her program budget. Gambling and drugs? not promote Abbott Elementary, dopsik s Only murders in the building.. Another obvious sin: Rice’s “British ways” kept him away. Daily revealed.

Rice’s Disney operation had its difficulties almost from the start. At Fox, he’s had a seemingly charming climb up the ratings. (He was close to his father Rupert Murdock And he helped Murdoch fight organized labor in England in the 1980s.) Starting as an intern, Rice was mentored as several industry executives worked under the supervision of film and television. People joked that if his last name had been Murdoch, he could have inherited the entire company.

Long after Disney bought Fox, Rice became embroiled in controversy over Greenlight’s powers. Kevin Mayer, which was preparing to launch the Disney+ streaming service. The two reached uncomfortable tensions, but the situation was never resolved, sources say. After Meyer left in May 2020, Chapek restored Rice’s green light authority and later renewed Rice’s contract. (While he received the bonus, Rice’s salary was reduced by $5 million, or 20%, to bring his salary into line with Disney standards.) karim daniel Responsible for distribution decisions. The way the business works, separating creative solutions from finance and distribution calls, confuses many in the industry. Like Chapek, Daniel has experience in consumer products and theme parks, but not content creation.

While Rice never complained about the deal, it’s not hard to imagine that a powerful executive at Fox, who fought for his authority at Disney, could have won it. “No one lost more real estate in this reorganization than Peter,” said the former Disney employee. The media executive, who worked closely with Rice in the Fox era, finds the reorganization – as in many industries – opaque and illogical. “There is no decision that is not creative and financial,” he said. “You don’t fragment these functions. “…no one can understand how it works.” If the bailiff had to deal with it, he adds, “I didn’t know how I got out of the car in the morning.”

Upon his release, it was speculated that Walden had made a subtle move into the position. (Those who’ve known him the longest believe he’s too experienced a player to do anything obvious.) While his contract isn’t until 2023, the longtime TV exec says, “I think he said that. [to Chapek]“What is my way? Where I go? It means: ‘You are losing me. You’re getting crazy”.

Says another TV veteran who worked with Disney: “The knife is very smart and requires nothing. But the more Bobby talked to him about what the future would be like, and the more you looked at the org chart, the more he saw the future. bob had one [candidate] “Right there.”

In a June 13 memo to employees, Walden said more about Rice than Chapek did in his memo announcing the reorganization. “I am so happy to have worked with Peter Rice for so long,” Walden wrote. “He is a talented executive and I learned a lot from him. I know you will all join me and wish him all the best in whatever he chooses next.”

The story first appeared in the June 15 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.