Dana Walden Addresses Disney General Entertainment Staff After Executive Shakeup, Pledges Commitment To Inclusion & Collaboration

deadline.com:

In her first public comments since she was elevated to Chairman of Disney General Entertainment, Dana Walden sent a memo to staff Monday morning.

In it, she expressed her “immense appreciation to Bob Chapek for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime,” noting that “is enormously proud of what we do.” She also praised Peter Rice, “a gifted executive,” for his mentorship and friendship and highlighted the achievements of each division in the content group’s portfolio.Walden’s company email follows the surprise dismissal by Disney CEO Chapek of Rice as Chairman of Disney General Entertainment and Walden’s appointment to replace him.

The shakeup sent shockwaves through the company, affecting moral as employees have been trying to make sense of the unceremonious firing of Rice that came without warning.In it, she made a pledge to her staff, singling out her commitment inclusion which recently became the center of another controversy following Chapek’s initial response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.“I promise you that I will do everything I can to support you and make sure that DGE is the best place in the business to work.

A place that thrives on creativity and creative risk-taking; a place where people can bring their authentic, true selves to work every day; a place where inclusion is top priority and collaboration is celebrated; and a place where we will never stop working to be the very best home for talent.”Here is the full memo:As I begin the first week of my new job, I wanted to start by letting you know how amazed and impressed I am by all of you each and every day.