A turbulent week continues as 4,000 job cuts are expected
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The massive Disney layoffs continue.
TheWrap has learned that as part of an ongoing company-wide downsizing, executives from the marketing departments at Disney+ and Walt Disney Studios have been let go.
The company aims to eliminate 7,000 jobs by this summer, bringing the total to 4,000 by the end of the week. Those affected include Natalie Benson, director of digital marketing for Disney+; Chris Bates, Vice President, Global Marketing for Disney+; Angie Poston, Vice President, Marketing Strategy for Disney+; and Eric Dane, Vice President, Digital Marketing, Walt Disney Studios.
Earlier today we exclusively reported that Trevor Kelly, a Disney+ executive, was also let go as part of the layoffs. Statistics guru Nate Silver will also leave ABC.
More meetings are being held throughout the afternoon at various Disney business units; A source said today layoffs are happening every 30 minutes. Disney Branded Television also felt the effects of the layoffs today.
Today’s activity shows just how cross-sectional these layoffs really are. Bates, Poston and Dane were all pre-20th Century Fox employees who were imported to Disney following the $71.3 billion sale of Fox that began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. her office; It was a prop from the sequel “Independence Day: Resurgence.”) Ironically, the huge debt burden from the acquisition is partly responsible for the massive belt-tightening and layoffs that have been going on around the company, other with Disney+ being a major factor in the costs associated with the launch and continued programming. For her part, Benson came over from FX, which is now a part of the Disney family following the Fox acquisition.
The days ahead will be filled with more layoffs and we’ll keep reporting on these difficult times.
