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John Lasseter was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. He was the head of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, and his films – beloved children’s films which he nurtured and developed and helped make him one of the most respected men in Hollywood – have earned more than $6 billion. And this whole time, John Lasseter was a serial groper, a man who couldn’t stand next to a woman or sit beside a woman without putting his hands on her. Rashida Jones and her writing partner Will McCormack co-wrote Toy Story 4, but they’ve exited the project after Lasseter made some kind of unwanted advance on Rashida, at least that was the first version of the story, from The Hollywood Reporter. And now all the stories are coming out.
Rashida Jones is still credited as a writer on Toy Story 4, the next installment in the beloved franchise. But, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, the actress and her writing partner at the time, Will McCormack, left the project early on after John Lasseter, the acclaimed head of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, made an unwanted advance.
Jones and McCormack did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Disney declined to comment on the alleged incident though a studio source said the departure was over “creative differences.” Multiple sources spoke with THR but asked not to be named out of fear that their careers in the tight-knit animation community would be damaged.
Based on the accounts of former Pixar insiders as well as sources in the animation community, the alleged incident was not an isolated occurrence. One longtime Pixar employee says Lasseter, who is well-known for hugging employees and others in the entertainment community, was also known by insiders for “grabbing, kissing, making comments about physical attributes.” Multiple sources say Lasseter is known to drink heavily at company social events such as premiere parties but this source says the behavior was not always confined to such settings.
Now Lasseter is taking a leave of absence from Pixar after acknowledging “painful” conversations and unspecified “missteps,” he wrote in a memo to staff on Tuesday. The leave is said to be for six months, a source tells THR.
“I have always wanted our animation studios to be places where creators can explore their vision with the support and collaboration of other gifted animators and storytellers,” Lasseter stated. “This kind of creative culture takes constant vigilance to maintain. It’s built on trust and respect, and it becomes fragile if any members of the team don’t feel valued. As a leader, it’s my responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen; and I now believe I have been falling short in this regard.” The executive added: “I’ve recently had a number of difficult conversations that have been very painful for me. It’s never easy to face your missteps, but it’s the only way to learn from them.”
Sources say some women at Pixar knew to turn their heads quickly when encountering him to avoid his kisses. Some used a move they called “the Lasseter” to prevent their boss from putting his hands on their legs.
[From THR]
Insiders say that women who worked for or around him knew they needed to avoid wearing skirts or else his hand would “travel.” Photos had to be cropped so no one could see Lasseter groping women as they posed together. He liked long, uncomfortable, lingering hugs with female colleagues. One Pixar employee told THR that Lasseter’s statement about “missteps” is “ridiculous and trivializing this behavior.” It wasn’t just “unwanted hugs,” this insider says. Personally, I’m getting really tired of these kinds of statements: “I’ve recently had a number of difficult conversations that have been very painful for me.” O RLY? There were some conversations which were painful for YOU? Imagine how your few female animators felt. Imagine how your few female colleagues felt, knowing they had to dress a certain way so you wouldn’t run your hand up their bare thigh?
Incidentally, Rashida Jones denies that she exited Toy Story 4 after an unwanted advance – she told the New York Times last night that she left the project because of Pixar’s lack of diversity. Jones and her writing partner told the Times: “We did not leave Pixar because of unwanted advances. That is untrue. We parted ways because of creative and, more importantly, philosophical differences….There is so much talent at Pixar, and we remain enormous fans of their films. However, it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice.”
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