After 'Missteps' at Disney, John Lasseter Has a New Job

More than a year after taking a leave of absence from his role as creative chief at Pixar and Disney due to “missteps” that made employees there feeling “disrespected and uncomfortable,” John Lasseter has a new gig overseeing Skydance Animation. He will start this month, per the Hollywood Reporter. Lasseter, who co-founded Pixar, left the studio in November 2017 and later announced he would retire at the end of 2018. In a statement, Skydance Media CEO David Ellison lauded Lasseter as a “singular creative and executive talent whose impact on the animation industry cannot be overstated.” But not everyone is celebrating. In a statement, the Time’s Up organization says hiring Lasseter “endorses and perpetuates a broken system that allows men to act without consequence.”

Female employees at Pixar and Disney claimed Lasseter subjected them to unwanted physical contact, which was then covered up by executives, Vulture reports under the headline, “And just like that, disgraced Pixar exec John Lasseter has a new job.” In an internal memo, per THR, Ellison says that the accusations were “thoroughly” investigated and “John has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavored to address and reform them.” In a statement of his own, Lasseter says he wants “to return to my creative and entrepreneurial roots” on a “foundation of quality, safety, trust, and mutual respect.” (More John Lasseter stories.)