Emma Thompson is heralding a major moment in the #TimesUp movement. Earlier this month word came that the Oscar winner had exited Skydance’s upcoming animation feature “Luck.” The actress, writer, director, and producer cited John Lasseter as the reason for her departure. ICYMI, Skydance hired Lasseter to head Skydance Animation just months after he faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct at Pixar.
This decision didn’t sit well with Thompson.
She declined to comment on her decision to the LA Times — she did something bolder, bigger, and better. She forwarded them the letter she sent Skydance management explaining her decision to withdraw from “Luck.”
This is more than an open letter — Thompson has issued a rallying cry.
“As you know, I have pulled out of the production of ‘Luck’ — to be directed by the very wonderful Alessandro Carloni. 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,” she writes. “I realize that the situation — involving as it does many human beings — is complicated,” she acknowledges, before posing questions she’d like answered.
The letter is well worth reading in full, but here are the important questions Thompson asks. She’s never minced words or hesitated to call bullshit on sexism in the industry. And she’s an Academy Award-winning screenwriter. This letter is powerful stuff, and encapsulates so much of what’s wrong with the business — and urges those in power to do what they can to fix it.
“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 that he must behave ‘professionally’? If a man has made women at his companies feel undervalued and disrespected for decades, why should the women at his new company think that any respect he shows them is anything other than an act that he’s required to perform by his coach, his therapist, and his employment agreement? The message seems to be, ‘I am learning to feel respect for women so please be patient while I work on it. It’s not easy.’ Much has been said about giving John Lasseter a ‘second chance.’ But he is presumably being paid millions of dollars to receive that second chance. How much money are the employees at Skydance being paid to GIVE him that second chance?”
Thompson continues, “If John Lasseter started his own company, then every employee would have been given the opportunity to choose whether or not to give him a second chance. But any Skydance employees who don’t want to give him a second chance have to stay and be uncomfortable or lose their jobs. Shouldn’t it be John Lasseter who has to lose HIS job if the employees don’t want to give him a second chance? Skydance has revealed that no women received settlements from Pixar or Disney as a result of being harassed by John Lasseter. But given all the abuse that’s been heaped on women who have come forward to make accusations against powerful men, do we really think that no settlements means that there was no harassment or no hostile work environment? Are we supposed to feel comforted that women who feel that their careers were derailed by working for Lasseter DIDN’T receive money?”
“I hope these queries make the level of my discomfort understandable,” Thompson writes. She also expresses regret about having to leave the project because she’s such a big supporter of its director. “But I can only do what feels right during these difficult times of transition and collective consciousness raising,” she explains.
A longstanding advocate for gender equality, Thompson points to some the bigger issues at play. “I am well aware that centuries of entitlement to women’s bodies whether they like it or not is not going to change overnight. Or in a year,” she says. “But I am also aware that if people who have spoken out — like me — do not take this sort of a stand then things are very unlikely to change at anything like the pace required to protect my daughter’s generation.”
Brava, Emma Thompson. We thank you for your candor, integrity, and bravery. This letter is so much more meaningful than a vague PR-approved statement. By sharing your truth, you’ll no doubt inspire others to do the same. And this generation — and your daughter’s — is indebted to you and others who have refused to be silenced. We hope others with power and privilege will join Thompson in speaking out about abuses of power and those who enable that toxic behavior.
