Disney itself is calling it a “sabbatical”.
Today I saw something I liked. Paraphrased: “Let’s not mourn that some great art was made by shitty men. Let’s mourn great art that never got made by women”.
Damn it.
It seems from what I have read that Lasseter is a very tactile touchy-feely person, and that, in his mind, he probably felt that as long as he didn’t get overtly sexual, this made his actions okay. He was skirting impropriety right on the borders. Obviously the number of reports of warnings etc suggest otherwise from the recipients’ point of view. They didn’t like it and felt it was not okay.
I have known a lot of those kinds of people, who like to touch others a lot, with a hand on the shoulder or knee, grabbing round the waist, or a lot of hugs for greeting, and that has always made me uncomfortable, even when there’s nothing more to it than how it appears.
Unwanted touching is not the same as sexual assault, but it’s still unwanted. I hope serious assault doesn’t get diluted as these revelations go on.
Oh drat, now this has crossed my mind: I can imagine people around my community going “Hell, that’s just the Gringos being so up tight and cold”, and essentially wanting to pull a culture waiver… and trying to get “lesser” sexual assaults reclassed as just “overly friendly”. I have seen enough wrong situations around me to know that’s utter bull, nothing about being warm and laid back prevents there being mutual respect and clear borderlines, knowing there is a time and place for everything and that “no” needs be said only once and you should actually hear “yes” or else simply back off.
Here is a report with much more damning information.
A statement from Rashida Jones, who became the face of this situation without her knowledge.
I’m guessing they’re letting him take a “sabbatical” for him to save a little face, for better or worse. Disney probably wants him gone, gone, gone, and he probably doesn’t want to go out like Weinstein. For all the money he’s made the studio, they probably allowed him his “taking a leave” story with the narrative that he’s just “really touchy-feely with everyone,” and are happy to have it all go away somewhat quietly.
But I would imagine, at the end of the day, he’s never setting foot in a Pixar/Disney studio again. He knows it, Disney knows it, Buzz and Woody know it.