John Lasseter Accused of Sexual Assault

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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

Post by Disney Duster »

JTurner wrote:Sadly, a lot of geniuses were flawed people, too. The Great Masters of music, Steve Jobs, heck, I'll bet even Walt Disney himself.
I don't think you can compare those guys to what Lasseter did.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

Post by PatrickvD »

disneyboy20022 wrote:To be honest, I think John Lassetter isn't coming back. This is just a way from him to leave Disney with some sort of dignity, and five months in he's gonna resign.
I'm more concerned Disney and Lasseter are hoping for this to blow over, so he can quietly return in 6 months. The executives see him as the guy singlehandedly responsible for billions of dollars. They're invested in him.

But hopefully I'm wrong.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Definitely what I expect.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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PatrickvD wrote:I'm more concerned Disney and Lasseter are hoping for this to blow over, so he can quietly return in 6 months. The executives see him as the guy singlehandedly responsible for billions of dollars. They're invested in him.

But hopefully I'm wrong.
You are wrong. :facepalm:
Lasseter has made billions for Walt Disney Animation Studios after spearheading the lucrative Finding Nemo, Cars, The Incredibles and Toy Story franchises and clearly his bosses aren’t willing to let him go so soon. The statement released by Disney’s spokesperson certainly implies that:

“We are committed to maintaining an environment in which all employees are respected and empowered to do their best work. We appreciate John’s candour and sincere apology and fully support his sabbatical.”
https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/john-lasset ... 09906.html
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Steve Hulett claims that Lasseter was not fired from Disney in 1984 because he wanted to get involved with computer animation but because of his "partying". Another myth debunked?
Back at Walt Disney Productions in the far off 1980s, I was friends with many of John Lasseter's buddies and fellow Cal Artsians. (John I knew only slightly. Working on different floors in different departments will do that.) The word on John then was that he was smart, talented ... and liked to party hearty. It was his enthusiasm for good times that was part of the reason for his exit from the Disney animation division in 1984. Judging from media reports, Mr. Lasseter STILL likes to party...and do many of those unfortunate things that go with partying.
Source: http://tombcartoonmonkeyskeleton.blogsp ... hange.html
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

Post by disneyprincess11 »

Well, he's 100% gone from Pixar. What about everything else?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/0ce3a841-4 ... ready.html
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Fingers crossed!
Pixar’s John Lasseter is supposedly on a six month leave of absence from the animation house. But I’m told that Lasseter has already negotiated his exit with parent company, Disney. They’re just waiting until “Coco,” Pixar’s release this weekend, has its Oscar run without interference. The six months would end just after the Academy Awards on March 4th. Lasseter’s “sabbatical” is just a way of easing him, sources contend.
Source: http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/11/24/so ... -oscar-run

disneyprincess11 wrote:Well, he's 100% gone from Pixar. What about everything else?
It doesn't make sense to kick him out of the studio he co-founded and he's most associated with but keep him running WDAS and DisneyToon Studios. Even if all the harassment incidents occurred at Pixar and not at any of the other studios, it would be silly and pointless to do that. They might as well keep him at Pixar too. Then again, weirder things have happened and Lasseter did seem more interested in WDAS than Pixar, lately.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Id be shocked if they kick him out of the company. I figure what they'll do is just quietly let him return to the same position he had but he will no longer be the "face" of Pixar/Disney animation, doing all those "fluffy" promos and interviews. They'll pick a new "face"(possibly a woman this time) who will fill that role. But other than that it will be business as usual for John(but he is gonna have to put a handle on his "grabby hands" if he wants to stick around this time.) :roll:
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

Post by Flanger-Hanger »

Before you people get all excited about John leaving, do you really think there's no one else at TWDC with skeletons in their closet?

I wouldn't be surprised if more is to follow. And then there's the question of why Iger and the rest continued to let all of this happen, and what (if any) are their consequences.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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So, the victims did in fact complain about his behavior internally. Are there still doubts that Pixar was well aware of the situation?
People close to the studio who requested anonymity to protect their relationships said several female employees had complained internally about their interactions with the executive. [...] Six former female employees described in interviews with The Times a boys’ club culture at Pixar where women were often degraded, insulted for their looks and sometimes paid less than their male counterparts. Some women said they left because of the way women were treated there.

Two women told The Times that Lasseter’s hugs sometimes went too far, crossing the line into unwanted physical contact. They and others declined to reveal their identities, saying they had signed nondisclosure agreements and feared reprisals for speaking out. The two women said the behavior was so well known among Pixar staffers that some young women were barred by their superiors from attending meetings with Lasseter. “I didn't get opportunities to pitch or articulate my ideas,” said one of the women who worked in production at Pixar for about five years.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywo ... story.html


Because of the above, and everything else that has been revealed this far, I'm not buying this:
Within Disney, Lasseter's departure took many employees by surprise, including some members of Pixar's so-called Braintrust — the creative executives who oversee the company's feature-film productions, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to comment.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywo ... story.html
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Sotiris wrote:It doesn't make sense to kick him out.
It would be extreme, but it has happened before under different circumstances. WIll Vinton lost his studio due to financial problems, and it didn't matter that he had decades of success to his credit. UPA co-founder Stephen Boustow relinquished ownership of his company following a decade of success that was plagued by creative and political differences.

Pixar is becoming a present-day reminder of how even the most successful entities is still subject to fault.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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This was posted on Reddit before the allegations were made public.
I have a buddy who went to CalArts and is good friends with a Pixar employee. Someone who worked there is currently building a case against John Lasseter who supposedly sexually harassed (I'm hearing a lot of unwarranted shoulder rubs and "accidental" slaps/brushes on the butt) many women working at Disney/Pixar. I was told to expect the news to come out around Coco's worldwide release (So probably over Thanksgiving weekend).
Source: http://boards.4chan.org/co/thread/96883 ... er-is-next
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Sotiris wrote:Steve Hulett claims that Lasseter was not fired from Disney in 1984 because he wanted to get involved with computer animation but because of his "partying". Another myth debunked?
Back at Walt Disney Productions in the far off 1980s, I was friends with many of John Lasseter's buddies and fellow Cal Artsians. (John I knew only slightly. Working on different floors in different departments will do that.) The word on John then was that he was smart, talented ... and liked to party hearty. It was his enthusiasm for good times that was part of the reason for his exit from the Disney animation division in 1984. Judging from media reports, Mr. Lasseter STILL likes to party...and do many of those unfortunate things that go with partying.
Source: http://tombcartoonmonkeyskeleton.blogsp ... hange.html

Such a Lasseter-y move to rewrite history. Ughhh
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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The Guardian makes fun of Lasseter's ridiculously evasive and whitewashed apology statement.

A hug’s life: Pixar’s John Lasseter leads the way in Hollywood’s golden age of euphemism
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... -euphemism
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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This is from an interview conducted on November 7th when Lasseter was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Walt Disney Family Museum. Oh, the irony. :facepalm:
Kristen Anderson-Lopez: One of the things that I think makes John really special for me is that he's a champion of a strong female voice. There aren't that many of us in the room and it can be very easy to feel intimidated but I know that John listens and when I have something to say that's right he really champions it and makes sure that my voice is heard.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKZNOuMrJPg
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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I wonder if she was being passive-aggressive with that statement. :lol:
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Sotiris wrote:
Kristen Anderson-Lopez: One of the things that I think makes John really special for me is that he's a champion of a strong female voice. There aren't that many of us in the room and it can be very easy to feel intimidated but I know that John listens and when I have something to say that's right he really champions it and makes sure that my voice is heard.
She should feel anything she says can be heard!
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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Apparently, everyone at the company, including Bob Iger, was aware of the situation and did nothing about it. Did really no one talk to him about it or did he just refuse to change his behavior?
Sources told Variety that the executive’s behavior around young women has been known within the company since the 1990s. Whatever steps were taken to address it — which sources suggested included Disney having confronted Lasseter about the allegations — did not stop the complaints, which have continued until quite recently. [...]

A former Pixar employee agreed, saying that CEO Bob Iger knew about a 2010 Oscar party where Lasseter was seen making out with a junior staffer. “They’ve known for a long time,” the source said. “It has gone all the way to the top. I know personally that Bob was aware. … Everybody was aware. They just didn’t do anything about it.”
Source: http://variety.com/2017/film/news/disne ... 202624219/
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

Post by PatrickvD »

Kristen Lopez is a married woman, who wen she was at work always accompanied by her husband. And too old for Lasseter. I think one of the articles mentioned a female employee warning a young new joiner that Lasseter likes “the pretty young ones”. It could have been that Kristen really didn’t know.

As this story unfolds I do believe it’s become severe enough for this to be the end of the road for Lasseter. There would be a big outcry if he were able to return as if nothing happened.
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Re: Lasseter Sexually Assaulted Women

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unprincess wrote:I figure what they'll do is just quietly let him return to the same position he had but he will no longer be the "face" of Pixar/Disney animation, doing all those "fluffy" promos and interviews. They'll pick a new "face" (possibly a woman this time) who will fill that role. But other than that it will be business as usual for John (but he is gonna have to put a handle on his "grabby hands" if he wants to stick around this time.)
This is what I'm predicting too unless there's a big outcry over it after he's been reinstated. In the meantime, Lasseter is already cancelling his appearances at events.

John Lasseter cancels Dec. 4 appearance in Sonoma following Hollywood Reporter story
http://www.sonomanews.com/news/7674904- ... artslide=0
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