John Lasseter was brought on as the head of Skydance Animation after exiting Pixar
Emma Thompson is opening up about why she quit a project after the hiring of former Pixar head John Lasseter, who faces accusations of sexual misconduct.
The 59-year-old actress dropped out of Skydance Animation’s upcoming animated film Luck after the company hired Lasseter, her rep previously confirmed to PEOPLE.
In an letter sent to Skydance management, and made available to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, the Oscar winner wrote, “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 concludes, writing, “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. 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.”
Lasseter was brought on as the head of Skydance Animation after exiting Pixar and Disney Animation due to the allegations of unwanted hugging and touching against him. He directed Toy Story and Toy Story 2 among other Pixar films and produced or executive produced every Pixar project.
Announcing his leave of absence at Pixar, Lasseter apologized for inappropriate behavior in an open memo.
“I especially want to apologize to anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an unwanted hug or any other gesture they felt crossed the line in any way, shape, or form,” he wrote in the memo obtained by PEOPLE at the time.
Lasseter’s hire at Skydance Animation was announced in January by CEO David Ellison.
“John is a singular creative and executive talent whose impact on the animation industry cannot be overstated,” Ellison said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “He was responsible for leading animation into the digital age, while telling incomparable stories that continue to inspire and entertain audiences around the globe.”
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The Time’s Up movement criticized Lasseter’s new position in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter in January, also adding that Lasseter had not done anything to account for his actions.
“Skydance Media’s decision to hire John Lasseter as head of animation endorses and perpetuates a broken system that allows powerful men to act without consequence,” the statement said. “At a moment when we should be uplifting the many talented voices who are consistently underrepresented, Skydance Media is providing another position of power, prominence and privilege to a man who has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.”
You can read Thompson’s full letter at the Los Angeles Times.