Disney Boots TV Exec As For Not Being 'Good Fit'

Bob Chapek and Peter Rice

In a surprise shake-up, Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday fired Peter Rice, a top television executive, just months after renewing his contract, according to The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

The company said Thursday morning that Rice would be replaced in his role as chairman of general entertainment content by Dana Walden, his longtime deputy.

In a separate statement Thursday, Susan Arnold, chairman of Walt Disney Co.’s board of directors, stated the board’s support for Chief Executive Bob Chapek, who has been under pressure from investors, employees and lawmakers as the company’s share price has tumbled by nearly half this year and the company has become ensnared by political controversies across the country.

Disney gave no reason for Mr. Rice’s firing, but people familiar with the matter say that Mr. Chapek called Mr. Rice into his office on Wednesday and informed him that he was no longer a “good fit” for the company.

Rice wrote a final note to his staff after he was dismissed in which he said he’s “sad that this will be the last ‘weekend read’” he would send, according to a copy of the note reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. He also thanked his colleagues, lauded the work they did together and ended it with a parting thought to “remain committed to excellence.”

Rice’s name had been floated as a possible successor to Robert Iger when he was still helming Disney, but senior Disney officials often shot down that talk. Executives in Hollywood and some news reports had also mentioned Mr. Rice’s name in recent months as a possible successor to Mr. Chapek, the CEO.

Mr. Rice is the second top executive to be ousted from Disney in the past six weeks. In late April, Geoff Morrell, the company’s head of corporate affairs and top communications executive, resigned from the company. In a letter to subordinates, Mr. Morrell also said that it had become clear that he wasn’t a “good fit” for the company.