Disney’s chief compliance officer resigned over layoffs

Disney has fired SVP and chief compliance officer Alicia Schwarz, Deadline has learned, amid a significant budget cut at the company.

Her role will be assumed by Horacio Gutierrez, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel. She joined the company in 2014 as general counsel, later as vice president and assistant general counsel, and as global deputy chief compliance counsel.

The Corporate Compliance function oversees adherence to Disney’s Global Ethics and Business Conduct Standards and manages regulatory compliance related to anti-corruption and trade laws.

Disney, led by CEO Bob Iger, is in the midst of a sweeping restructuring that will include rounds of layoffs — the first of which began this week — aimed at cutting billions of dollars in costs amid ‘ an uncertain background for the media and wider economy.

Overall, the cuts target 7,000 employees. As Deadline reported, an initial exodus is related to a consolidation of production operations at Disney TV Studios, Hulu, Freeform and FX and the closing of the studio’s Creative Acquisitions division. A unit created by ousted CEO Bob Chapek to investigate Metaverse projects has been disbanded, as has the former CEO’s DMED (Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution) division.

New names pop up every day. As Deadline and others reported earlier today, Marvel Entertainment’s Isaac Perlmutter has also been fired.

The top executives leave Mark Levenstein, SVP of production at Hulu, and Jayne Bieber, SVP of production management and operations at Freeform, and Elizabeth Newman, VP of development, who worked at 20th Television while overseeing creative acquisitions for Disney Television Studios.

All three divisions – Parks, Experiences and Products; Entertainment; and ESPN – will likely be affected. The upcoming second round of cuts is expected to be the deepest.

“During difficult times, we must always do what is necessary to ensure Disney can continue to provide exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now and well into the future,” Iger wrote in a memo to employees Monday.

Disney is holding its annual shareholder meeting next week.