Emma Thompson Slams Studio, Explains Why She Quit Movie

Actress can't believe Skydance hired former Disney exec John Lasseter after accusations
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 26, 2019 1:43 PM CST
Emma Thompson Slams Studio, Explains Why She Quit Movie
Emma Thompson in 2017.   (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP, file)

Emma Thompson made waves last month when she dropped out of an animated movie from Skydance Animation. She's making even bigger waves with a letter she shared with the Los Angeles Times explaining just why she quit Luck. In her letter to the studio, Thompson says it's all because Skydance hired former Pixar and Disney exec John Lasseter, who left Disney after allegations of inappropriate behavior, including lots of unwanted touching and hugs. “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate,” Thompson wrote.

And in a more devastating line: "If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he's not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract he must behave 'professionally'?" Skydance has previously defended the hire by saying Lasseter has"acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes," per HuffPo. But Thompson scoffs at the notion of giving Lasseter a "second chance," adding that he's "presumably being paid millions of dollars to receive that second chance." She said she had to step away from the movie on behalf of "my daughter's generation." The Hollywood Reporter sees the letter as a "major moment for the Time's Up movement." (More on the allegations against Lasseter here.)

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