Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and other Hollywood stars who have had issues with Disney have taken to social media to voice their frustrations with the company in recent days, and they’ve all taken aim at a single issue: the movie and television studio’s treatment of actresses like Rosanna Arquette and Jennifer Connelly as well as the company’s handling of its upcoming live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. They say Hollywood isn’t being treated fairly, and that Disney needs to stop being so arrogant and take a stand.
Johnny Depp and Rosanna Arquette have each had run-ins with Disney in the past. Arquette, of course, was accused of sexual assault in 2005, when the actress was 22. (Disney finally reached out to Arquette, notifying her of her rape and apologizing, in light of previous accusations against her for sexual harassment made by several other women.) Disney’s response to the accusation: it made a statement saying it was “aware that a member of the Disney Company’s team may have been aware of the allegation and offered a potential solution.” The studio also hired a publicist who pushed for an apology from Arquette. The studio did not make an official apology for Arquette.
Depp, of course, has had his own run-ins with Disney for a number of years. For those, we turn to a letter he wrote to the studio as a response to the news story about the abuse allegations about his father, the late Richard Burton, that surfaced earlier this week.
This isn’t the first time Depp has voiced his displeasure with Disney. On Dec. 10, he wrote a letter responding to Disney CEO Bob Iger’s remarks about his and other actors being “the first generation ever raised by the Internet.” Burton wrote this letter to Iger, asking him to stop using the Internet to target his kids.
Disney’s response to Burton’s letter was terse: “Mr. Burton is not welcome at our Studio.”
Iger’s response, meanwhile is a bit more cordial but still says the same thing: “Our approach to abuse of any kind is swift and decisive. We are sorry that Mr. Burton has experienced this type of traumatic experience with the media and are reaching out to them to address this issue and our thoughts are with his family.”
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