Both Zenia Mucha and Alan Braverman are being replaced by a single position at The Walt Disney Company. Mucha was the Chief Communications Officer, Braverman the Chief Counsel and Senior Executive Vice President. Both will be leaving with Robert Iger as he steps down from all duties at Disney.
Heading home—after 5 amazing years in London, we're moving back to the US and rejoining @Disney as Senior EVP and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. More here: https://t.co/mKXS4z1Dpx 1/6 pic.twitter.com/g7S2VOLMSK
— Geoff Morrell (@MorrellGeoff) December 7, 2021
In their place will be Geoff Morrell, currently the Executive Vice President of Communications and Advocacy at British Petroleum. He’s a remarkable pickup for Disney, as he was brought in to clean up public perception of BP after the Gulf oil spill. The new role for Mr. Morrell will also include government relations, both domestic and international. Importantly, Mr. Morrell was a spokesperson for the United States Department of Defense under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The ability to reach across the aisle may be important as a “red wave” is expected to potentially put Republicans in charge of the House, and perhaps, the Senate. Mr. Morrell is a very high-level, outsider hire. He reports directly to CEO, Bob Chapek.
Morrell does come with some connection to The Walt Disney Company. He worked for ABC News from 2000-2004. The consolidation of roles into a single position (Chief Corporate Affairs Officer) that reports to Bob Chapek may be seen as shoring up of power by the relatively new CEO. Morrell is seen as a premier clean-up communications professional, and may be very useful for Disney as they face fallout from China relations, partisanship accusations, loss of interest in several properties, and more. Of course, none of this is even close to the negativity Morrell navigated while restoring the image of BP.
