Disney CEO Bob Chapek Apologizes For Silence On Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is the leading defendant in a massive 80-page lawsuit by Equality Florida against the “Don’t Say Gay” law he signed this week. Roberta Kaplan, one of the nation’s top civil rights lawyers, who successfully argued the Supreme Court case that effectively overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),  is the lead attorney on the case.“Florida House Bill 1557 (widely known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law) is an unlawful attempt to stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.

Ariana DeBose is speaking out.

One of Chris Wallace’s first guests on his new CNN+ series is former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, who makes the case for why corporate leaders should wade into major issues like climate change, immigration and, most recently, Florida’s so-called ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorAriana DeBose made history on Sunday night by becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar for her work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” The musical was distributed by 20th Century Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company.On the Academy Awards red carpet before the ceremony, I talked with DeBose about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeBose says she has reached out to Disney CEO Bob Chapek to talk about the studio’s controversial reaction to the legislation.“Bob and I, we’re gonna do the work,” DeBose said. “I have [spoken to Chapek].

Disney is set to welcome the Wall Street crowd to Orlando for two days next week at annual event that’s still a go, even after a corporate retreat was nixed amid swirling headlines.

Disney 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.

As many of its LGBTQ+ employees get set for a full-day walkout tomorrow, Disney has decided to postpone a management retreat set for next week as it continues efforts to calm the internal waters.

“When we donate money to different political candidates, we have no idea how they’re going to vote going forward into the future,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek at a shareholders meeting this past week.

Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek issued a memo to the company’s LGBTQ+ and ally employees apologizing over his handling of the controversy over the media conglomerate’s response to Florida HB 1557, colloquially known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.

It’s been a rough first two years for Bob Chapek in Disney’s top job.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a major test of his leadership, after the company’s botched response to an anti-gay bill in Florida sparked a staff revolt among LGBTQ employees and their supporters.Chapek apologized to the staff on Friday, saying he should have been “a stronger ally.” But for some employees, who found the company’s silence on the bill profoundly alarming, the statement came too late.“This is a CYA [cover your ass] for Chapek — this is a weak statement,” one Disney staffer told Variety. “We should have gotten this apology on March 1, not weeks after — and after this bill was passed in Florida.”For Chapek, the apology capped a full week of attempted damage control.

Bob Chapek is speaking out again.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterAfter weeks of internal strife and external controversy surrounding the Walt Disney Company’s lack of public response to the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida, CEO Bob Chapek announced in a company email on Friday that Disney will pause all political donations in the state during a restructuring of its political giving framework.Chapek also apologized directly to the company’s LGBTQ employees for his widely criticized messaging on the issue.“It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights,” Chapek wrote.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is in full damage control mode today as the blast radius from the company’s bungled response to Florida’s “discriminatory ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation threatens his newly minted reign at the House of Mouse.

As controversy continued to swirl around Disney’s stance on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the Hulk himself today tweeted praise for Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s statement in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek, amid criticism for declining to speak out against the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill, came out against the legislation on Wednesday, insisting the media conglomerate has been “opposed to the bill from the outset” and noted he would engage with Gov. Ron DeSantis on the legislation.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek and other company leaders received a letter from Disney’s LGBTQIA+ Business Employee Resource Groups on Feb. 28, requesting the company “issue a public statement condemning anti-LGBTQIA+ policies in the U.S.” just after Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill had passed the state’s House of Representatives, but before it cleared the Senate, Variety has learned exclusively.“While there are over 200 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills being introduced across the nation (and more globally), we urge you to begin with speaking against these acts: The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill in Florida (set to go into effect July 1st) and the Texas Governor’s directive for state agencies to investigate gender-affirming care as ‘child abuse,'” reads the letter, which was obtained by Variety Thursday, following Chapek’s first public opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill at the Disney shareholders meeting Wednesday.

Disney‘s Bob Chapek is breaking his silence amid backlash.