Everyone was shocked Wednesday when it was announced that Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek personally fired chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, Peter Rice. It was Rice’s job to create the original series and news for the streaming arms of Disney.

Last summer his contract was renewed and he has a couple of years left on it. He has worked for Fox and then Disney over thirty years and his replacement spent most of her time working under him. How awkward for her.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Chapek fired him in a seven-minute meeting and said he was not a good fit for the “new Disney culture.”

What is the “new Disney culture?” Making bad choices? Because they seem to have that one down.

Here’s what THR said:

“Sources say embattled Disney CEO Bob Chapek summoned Rice to his office Monday and relieved the former Fox exec of his duties. The CEO, who took over for Bob Iger last year, is said to have felt that Rice was no longer a fit.

This dismissal took place in a seven-minute meeting Monday evening, according to sources. Chapek told Rice that he was not a fit in “the new Disney culture,” to which Rice said words to the effect that he thought they were in the midst of building the new Disney culture. He asked in what way he did not fit and Chapek responded, “Now is not the time” and dismissed him.”

This comes after the chief corporate affairs officer Geoff Morrell suddenly left at the end of April and was replaced with someone with a very political background. In a memo he sent out he echoed the same sentiment that was given to Rice as a reason for his termination:

“After three months in this new role, it has become clear to me that for a number of reasons it is not the right fit.”

Interesting.

But it get’s better. According to THR sources, Chapek was angry because he thought Rice was positioning himself to replace him.

“Industry insiders believe Rice was perceived as angling to replace the embattled Chapek.

Some of the town’s most powerful insiders responded with anger. “Peter is beloved,” said one agent, noting that he was overseeing a successful division. Referring to Chapek, he said, “How many times does a person have to show you who they are?”

Many are pointing out that Rice’s contract was still years out while Chapek’s was not. There have been strong pushes as of late to remove Bob Chapek as CEO of Disney. Disney fans and park guests have been demanding his removal for quite some time as well. If Disney+ suffers a drop like Netflix, it might give the board even more reason to remove him.

Now to be fair a lot of the things people are mad about now were started or done under Bob Iger’s leadership, but Bob Chapek is not winning people over.

If he thought Peter Rice was trying to take his job or if he thought that Rice might be considered as his replacement, through no fault of his own, Chapek’s actions would make sense.

Replacing Rice is his own right-hand-woman Dana Walden. Now you might remember her as the executive that said they had a lot of good shows submitted but they passed on them because they weren’t diverse enough.

This is relevant when you see wording in statements from both Walden and Chapek that may indicate it could indeed be over their “diversity and inclusion” initiatives:

Walden said:

“...Disney General Entertainment’s culture of creative excellence and originality has made us home to many of the most talented creators in the business. I am humbled to lead this team, and I am confident that together, we will continue to build on the foundation of culture-defining entertainment we have achieved so far.”

While Bob Chapek said this:

“…Dana is one of the most seasoned and respected executives in the business, and her well-earned reputation for championing creative talent and developing programming that captures the cultural zeitgeist has resulted in hit after hit for us,..”

Disney has been championing their Reimagine Tomorrow, that has come under fire many times over leaked employee training information, surveys, and videos. Agree or disagree with the content, there definitely seems to be a shift in that direction.

Whatever Bob Chapek’s motivation is Rice is out and his top person Dana Walden is in and Chapek’s actions have everyone questioning his true motivations.

What do you think? Comment and let us know.