Marvel’s Victoria Alonso Fired To Work On ‘Argentina, 1985’ – Miscellaneous

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A Disney spokesperson calls Alonso’s lawyer’s remarks “unfortunate.”

Victoria Alonso’s work as a producer on the Oscar-nominated feature film “Argentina, 1985” is being cited as reason for the longtime Marvel Studios executive’s firing, according to three sources familiar with Alonso’s exit. However, Alonso’s lawyer retracted this justification – calling it “extremely ridiculous”.

In a statement to diverseattorney Patty Glaser, who is representing Alonso in her departure from Disney, claims instead that the executive was “silenced” by Disney, and that she had the studio’s “blessing” to work on “Argentina, 1985”.

According to sources, the dispute was Alonso’s 2018 employment contract with Disney that barred her from working on projects for any competing studios. Argentina, 1985 — which traces the real-life experiences of the country’s recent dictatorship — was produced in part by Amazon Studios, which released the film on Prime Video in October.

Sources say Alonso, who was born and raised in Argentina, didn’t alert Disney about her work on “Argentina, 1985” beforehand. Still, her years of service with Marvel gave Alonso enough leverage that the studio made her grandfather work overtime into a new employment agreement Alonso signed last year, according to these sources, that expressly barred the CEO from working outside of Marvel — including any. Another Job. Extracurricular promotion. While uncommon for a CEO of Alonso’s stature, projects at third-party distributors were virtually unheard of.

After Argentina, 1985 was chosen by the country that bears its name to be the official submission for the Academy Awards, however, Alonso appeared on the awards season circuit to help move the film to its eventual Oscar nomination for International Film. Alonso was repeatedly reminded in writing that she was in breach of her contract, these sources say, but she moved forward anyway, walking the press line at the Oscars with “Argentina, 1985” director Santiago Mitri, rather than serving as one of the executive producers of Several candidates for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” After just eight days, Alonso was fired for breach of contract and violation of Disney’s Standards of Business Conduct.

An idea that Disney knew and agreed could work [“Argentina, 1985″]Then they say ostensibly they had a reason to fire her because of an interview or two in support of this movie, it sounds crazy,” said one former Disney executive. diverse On condition of anonymity.

“The idea of ​​Victoria being fired over a handful of press interviews related to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Academy Award and had Disney’s blessing to work on is absolutely ridiculous,” Glaser says. Victoria was silenced, a Latina queer who had the guts to criticize Disney. Then she was terminated when she refused to do something she thought was reprehensible. Disney and Marvel made a really bad decision that would have devastating consequences. There is a lot to this story and Victoria will soon be telling it – in one forum or another “.

A source close to the matter also says that following Alonso’s remarks at the 2022 GLAAD Awards, in which she called out former CEO Bob Chapek by name for his reaction to Florida’s “Don’t Say Jay” bill, she was told she couldn’t press any longer for Marvel projects.

In a statement sent to diverse After this story was published, a Disney spokesperson called Glaser’s comments “unfortunate.”

“It is unfortunate that Victoria shares an account that ignores several key factors related to her departure, including an unquestioned breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy,” says the spokesperson. “We will wish her all the best for the future and thank her for her many contributions to the studio.”

Alonso’s work on “Argentina, 1985” appears to have been the culmination event of the CEO’s tenure at Marvel, which has become increasingly fraught due to Good–advertiser criticism Of the studio’s approach to visual effects, one of the departments was overseen by Alonso. Marvel’s latest installment, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” has suffered harsh criticism for its visual effects, and the film is one of Marvel Studios’ lowest-grossing films in the company’s history.

Hollywood Reporter First mentioned that Alonso’s exit was related to her work on “Argentina, 1985”.

to update: This story has been updated to include a statement by Alonso’s attorney, and reporting on the CEO’s speech at the GLAAD Awards.

Update 2: This story has been updated to include a statement from a Disney spokesperson.