Emma Thompson has dropped out of new animated film 'Luck' as she reportedly didn't want to work with John Lasseter.
Emma Thompson
The 59-year-old actress will no longer be working on the film as she is "concerned" about working with Lasseter, 62, who has become the new head of Skydance Animation following his departure as the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Disney Animation after acknowledging "missteps" in his behavior with employees.
A representative for Emma confirmed to MailOnline she had decided to leave the project: "over concerns about working with John Lasseter when Skydance hired him".
Lasseter left Pixar and Disney after taking a six-month sabbatical from the company in November 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct. In June 2018, Disney announced that he would be leaving the company at the end of the year when his contract expired, but would work in a consultant role until then.
Skydance CEO David Ellison announced Lasseter's hiring in January and hailed the animator as a "singular creative and executive talent" due to his work on box office hits 'Frozen', 'Zootopia' and 'Incredibles 2', whilst also addressing any potential controversy Lasseter's hiring may cause.
He said: "John is a singular creative and executive talent whose impact on the animation industry cannot be overstated."
"He was responsible for leading animation into the digital age, while telling incomparable stories that continue to inspire and entertain audiences around the globe.
"John has acknowledged and apologised for his mistakes and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavoured to address and reform them."
The movie 'Luck' centers around the struggle between the organisations of bad luck and good luck, and Thompson had reportedly already started recording for her role as head of the latter organization before departing the project.
At the time of Lasseter's hiring Ellison defended his decision to hire the animator in a letter to his employees which was published by Variety.
It read: "I know many of you are aware of John's admitted mistakes in his prior role helming those studios.
"We employed outside counsel to thoroughly investigate the allegations, which we considered serious and have warranted our full attention as we made this important decision.
"The senior leadership team and I have all carefully evaluated the findings of this extensive investigation. Let me be clear: we have not entered into this decision lightly."
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