Rashida Jones has denied claims that she left the writing staff of Toy Story 4 due to sexual harassment by Disney animation head John Lasseter, instead stating that her departure was the result of “philosophical differences” over a lack of diversity at Pixar Animation Studios.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Lasseter, who is also the chief creative officer at Pixar, is to take a six-month leave of absence after admitting to undivulged “missteps”. The announcement was swiftly followed by reports of alleged misconduct by Lasseter published by Variety, Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter, with the Reporter investigation including a claim that former Parks and Recreation star Jones and writing partner Will McCormack had exited Toy Story 4 following an “unwanted advance” by Lasseter.
However, in a statement given to the New York Times, Jones and McCormack said the claim was incorrect. “We did not leave Pixar because of unwanted advances,” the statement said. “That said, we are happy to see people speaking out about behaviour that made them uncomfortable. As for us, we parted ways because of creative and, more importantly, philosophical differences.”
“There is so much talent at Pixar, and we remain enormous fans of their films. However, it is also a culture where women and people of colour do not have an equal creative voice. We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders. We hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered,” the statement said.
Pixar has been criticised in the past for an absence of women working in senior creative positions at the studio. Of its 19 previous feature films, only one, 2012’s Brave, featured a female directing credit, and that director, Brenda Chapman, was removed midway through production after reportedly clashing with Lasseter.
The studio has also featured an absence of diversity on screen, with the lead protagonists of all of its past productions depicted as white. That issue was noted by Lasseter himself, who told the Guardian in 2015 that the studio planned to produce more films featuring “female, ethnically diverse characters”. This week sees the release in US cinemas of Coco, a Mexico-set animation that will be the studio’s first to feature a non-white protagonist.
