Agnes Chu Exits Disney+ to Run Conde Nast Entertainment as President

Agnes Chu is leaving Disney+ to take over Condé Nast Entertainment as president.

Chu will start in September 2020, reporting to Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch. As part of the move, current CNE president Oren Katzeff will transition to a new role.

“Agnes is a rare creative executive that can harness both vision and operational expertise to produce culture-defining content and audience experiences,” said Lynch. “Her leadership was instrumental to the success of one of the largest media launches in the last decade and we are thrilled for her to join us and help drive the continued growth of our brands and audience through the power of video storytelling.”

Also Read: Condé Nast's Top Video Executive Resigns After Complaints of Racial Bias

Chu, along with Ricky Strauss, had been leading Disney+’s original content efforts. She had been with Disney for 12 years. Her title at Disney+ was senior vice president of original content. Chu will work with Strauss on a transition plan while the company searches for her replacement. Sarah Shepard, vice president of scripted originals, and Dan Silver, vice president of non-scripted originals, will report directly to Strauss in the interim.

“Storytelling has the ability to move people, provoke conversation, and indelibly impact our culture on a global scale, which creates a responsibility that is particularly pivotal today,” said Chu. “The premium brands of Condé Nast have always inspired me, allowing me access to new vantage points and a vision of what is possible. I’m excited to work with Roger, the editors, and the great teams to continue building on the company’s incredible legacy, and expanding its remarkable content across all platforms.”

16 White Actors Miscast in Nonwhite Roles, From Mickey Rooney to Emma Stone (Photos)

Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944)
Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.
MGM
Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)
Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.
MGM
John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956)
Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
RKO Radio Pictures
Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Heston starred as Ramon Miguel Vargas in the 1958 crime film, a Mexican narcotics officer.
Universal
Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.
Paramount Pictures
Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961)
Wood plays a Puerto Rican teenager in the 1961 musical film, although she was Russian-American in real life.
United Artists
Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965)
Not only did the white actor play a Moor in 1965's "Othello," he did so while wearing blackface.
Warner Bros.
Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983)
Pacino plays a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film, and many criticized his over-the-top accent as offensive.
Universal
Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998)
Welsh actor Hopkins starred as the Spanish Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega, in the 1998 film.
Tristar
Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004)
Schneider seems to play a different ethnicity in every Adam Sandler movie. In "The Waterboy" he was the "You can do it!" guy, in "Big Daddy," he was a Middle-Eastern deliveryman, and in "50 First Dates," he plays a native Hawaiian. Badly.
Columbia Pictures
Mike Myers in "The Love Guru" (2008)
Myers played an Indian-American guru in the roundly panned movie, in which he dressed up a lot of racist jokes in a terrible accent.

See Video: Mike Myers Was ‘Super Proud’ Standing Next to Kanye West When He Dissed George W. Bush
Paramount
Every character from "21" (2008)
The movie follows a group of math students who come up with a card counting strategy to win big in Vegas. While the movie had a predominantly white cast, the real life MIT students were all Asian-American.
Sony
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010)
Gyllenhaal plays a Middle-Eastern prince in the film, which many called "insulting" and "the perfect example of whitewashing."

Also Read: Jake Gyllenhaal in Talks to Join Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘The Current War’
Disney
Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013)
Like Mara, Johnny Depp played a Native American in Disney's film, which sparked outrage among fans and critics despite the actor's claims that his great-grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.

Also Read: Disney CFO: ‘Lone Ranger’ Flop Shows Non-Franchise Movies Need to Cost Less
Disney
Rooney Mara in "Pan" (2015)
Mara was cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American, in the 2015 film based on the Peter Pan story.

Also Read: Rooney Mara in Negotiations to Play Tiger Lily in Warner Bros.’ ‘Pan’
Warner Bros.
Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015)
Stone played a Chinese/Swedish/Hawaiian woman in this critically and commercially disappointing Cameron Crowe romantic comedy.

Also Read: Cameron Crowe Apologizes for Emma Stone’s Asian ‘Aloha’ Character: ‘Was Based on a Real-Life, Red-Head Local’
Sony