Bob Chapek dramatically fired Disney’s President of General Entertainment and already has his new replacement
In accordance with Indiewire, the CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, fired Disney’s president of general entertainment content, Peter Rice for allegedly “not a good fit” in the company.
In the past, Rice was in charge of supervising all Fox entertainment networks. However, after the sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney in 2019, the executive took over most of Disney’s television operations.
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Who will hold the position?
Now the new president of entertainment for Walt Disney Television it will be Dana Walden, who ran the Fox network for years and has been interested in joining Disney’s television division. According to Chapek himself, she has “had hit after hit in their efforts to support talent that captures the culture of the time.”
Walden was the one who promoted the production of Summer of Soul, documentary that won the Oscar this year. He has also been behind the most successful projects of Hulu, as Dopesick, Abbot Elementary, Onyl Murders in the Building, The Dropout y the Kardashians.
Walden will now be in charge ABC Entertainment, ABC News, Disney Branded Television, Disney Television Studios, Freeform, FX, Hulu Originals, National Geographic Content y Onyx Collective. Therefore, in addition to being in charge of all streaming productions, will also have the last word in shows like Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, Family Guy and The Simpsons.
For its part, Chapek expressed through a statement that Walden in just three years has transformed the television business “into a content powerhouse that consistently delivers the entertainment audiences crave”explained the CEO.
“Dana is a dynamic and collaborative cultural force and leader. In just three years she has managed to transform our television business into a content powerhouse that consistently delivers the entertainment that audiences are begging for.”
Bob Chapek
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What happened to Peter Rice?
According to VarietyChapek he felt that Rice was not happy with the massive reorganization within the television operations that was implemented in October 2020, which made their relationship somewhat strained. However, Rice did not envision his firing and learned of the company’s decision in “less than 10 minutes”.
Although rumors claim that it was “something heavy and difficult to work with”, he’s actually one of the most prominent executive figures in Hollywood, and was even on Disney’s list of potential new CEOs before Bob Chapek came along.
And according to the same Variety sources, Rice had only received comments “Positive comments and praise regarding his past leadership and operational decisions at Disney,” so the news of his dismissal was a huge surprise.
“There was no indication that the corporate side was dissatisfied with his work, reinforced by the fact that he signed a new multi-year contract late last year to continue working at Disney.”
Variety
Rice is said to have pressed Chapek for a reason for this unexpected dismissal and he only replied that he was not the “appropriate” for the organization of the company. However, Variety notes that in recent months, Rice had been mentioned as a strong candidate to succeed Chapek in the event that“Disney’s board of directors decides the world’s largest media company needs a new quarterback.”
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Does Chapek want to eliminate the competition?
While Chapek is a great executive, he has had controversies in the past regarding how he seeks to run the company. Some sources say that he is very focused on transforming Disney into a technology company with Disney +, but he has received complaints that he doesn’t know how to manage his creative staff.
In fact, its mishandling of simultaneous releases during the pandemic was one of the reasons that contributed to scarlett johansson lawsuit about your payment Black Widow, so it is possible that Chapek is looking for new personnel who fit his ideas and could be a better bridge with the creative forces of Disney. However, the hasty way in which Peter Rice was fired is because You want to eliminate your competition.
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What do movie buffs think?
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