Attorney for former Marvel executive Victoria Alonso says she was silenced: ‘A gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney’
LOS ANGELES — An attorney representing former Marvel Studio executive Victoria Alonso, who was fired earlier this week from the Walt Disney Co.-owned superhero juggernaut, is firing back at reports that she was pushed out over an Oscar-nominated film she produced.
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The Hollywood Reporter on Friday published a story citing unnamed sources who said Alonso was fired for violating a 2018 employment contract by doing press to promote the film “Argentina, 1985,” which was released by Amazon Studios in the U.S.
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The film was nominated for an Oscar for international feature this year. Alonso was one of multiple producers on the project.
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Disney has not commented on the firing.
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Alonso’s lawyer, Hollywood power player Patty Glaser, blasted the emerging narrative as “absolutely ridiculous” in a statement emailed to the Los Angeles Times.
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“The idea that Victoria was fired over a handful of press interviews relating to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Oscar and which she got Disney’s blessing to work on is absolutely ridiculous,” Glaser said.
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“Victoria, a gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney, was silenced,” Glaser’s statement continued, referring to Alonso’s criticism of former Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek’s weak response to Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” education law.
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Glaser said Alonso “was terminated when she refused to do something she believed was reprehensible,” without giving specifics.
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“Disney and Marvel made a really poor decision that will have serious consequences,” the statement concluded. “There is a lot more to this story and Victoria will be telling it shortly — in one forum or another.”
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this story was originally published March 24, 2023, 8:32 PM.