A New Ride for Disney Exec

In a move that took even the savviest insiders by surprise, the chairman of Disney Studios, Dick Cook, announced his resignation on Friday, September 18. “I have been contemplating this for some time now and feel it’s the right time for me to move on to new adventures…and in the words of one of my baseball heroes, Yogi Berra, ‘If you come to a fork in the road, take it,'” he explained.

Once the word began to spread, reports began popping up alluding to the notion that perhaps Cook’s departure was not an idea proposed by the chairman without some prodding. According to the LA Times, CEO Bob Iger “was growing increasingly frustrated with Cook’s management style… citing Cook’s tendency to play his cards close to the vest.”

In the ultimate story of climbing the corporate ladder, Cook began working for Disney as a ride operator. And though Iger may have been unsatisfied with him, members of Hollywood elite were quite disturbed by the change. The LA Times also reported that Johnny Depp, who worked closely with cook on Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series “said his enthusiasm for a fourth Pirates movie has waned with the news of Cook’s exit.” And Depp may not be alone. Steven Speilberg, a new member of the Disney family, is another Hollywood power player upset by the change.

Blogger Nikki Finke claims to have scooped everyone by posting the news first, adding that Cook was “blindsided by the firing, and morally outraged that it would come on Rosh Hashanah.”

Via Gawker