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In our world, we know Richard Dickson as the former president and chief operating officer of Mattel who was instrumental in helping revive the “Barbie” brand, including the eventual creation of the Oscar-winning 2023 blockbuster movie. These days, Dickson is the CEO of Gap and last week he put out a press release that probably didn’t get the recognition it deserved.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, Dickson said he was encouraging his workers to speak out, “to share opinions in constructive, not divisive ways. In that spirit, we must be clear: we condemn violence in any form.”
Dickson went on to say “this moment reminds us that our purpose has never been more meaningful. Now, more than ever, we need people in the gaps between us. Ready to both listen and engage in respectful dialogues that move us forward, together.
“At Gap Inc., Courageous Conversations is an internal forum where our teams come together to explore complex topics, bridge divides, and take action. This moment serves as a powerful catalyst — one that calls on us to have a greater impact.”
Okay, very easy to call Dickson opportunistic, naive and a virtue signaler but after the week we just went through with such vitriol from both sides, the idea of a Fortune 500 CEO promoting open dialogue was intriguing when other companies have battened down the hatches. Props for the chutzpah.
Jennifer George, an executive for The Aspen Group, offered some great insights on Dickson and his team on LinkedIn.
“They explicitly anchored their reaction in company DNA (“bridging gaps is in our name”), announced plans to externalize their internal “Courageous Conversations” platform, and framed the moment as proof their purpose has never been more meaningful.
“From what I see, Gap is betting that in a polarized landscape, there’s market value in inclusive authenticity. Very different from the three dominant corporate modes we tend to see:
→ Performative activism (2020-2022 vintage statements that aged poorly)
→ Strategic silence (safe but forgettable)
→ Partisan positioning (cheap engagement, real reputational risk)
She said Gap is testing a fourth lane that she calls “principled without preachy.” Pulling that off is easier said than done, we know, but just having an open dialogue among corporate leaders (yes, you Hollywood) around the virtues of Dickson’s plan is a refreshing break from the magnetic pull of our polarized culture right now.
Take a few deep breaths this week.
Tom Lowry
SVP/Editorial Strategy
tom.lowry@thewrap.com
REMINDER: TheGrill 2025 is a week away. Jeffrey Katzenberg. Irving Azoff. Jerry Bruckheimer. All that and more at TheWrap’s seminal event on Sept. 30. Subscribers get 40% off with WrapPRO40.
1. Passionate Fans, Passionate Bettors The dirty little secret for so long about the passion for sports was that it was also driven heavily by the passion for betting on games. It was a hush-hush topic for fear it would sullen the purity of sports in some way. That, of course, has changed dramatically, and technology today has taken that passion to new levels. It’s no longer having to telephone a bookie, or go to a corner bar to make a bet. Sports betting has been legitimized and made lightning fast by the smartphones and other tech, wrote Tess Patton this past week in our latest story for our “Game On” series about the impact of sports on entertainment.
“FanDuel has official partnerships with the MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL and the PGA. DraftKings is the official partner of the WNBA, and an official daily fantasy and sports betting partner of the NFL, NHL, PGA Tour, and UFC, as well as an official daily fantasy partner of NASCAR. These partnerships have become more commonplace as online sports betting is legalized nationwide. So far, 30 states have legalized online sports betting via either smartphone apps or websites. D.C. and Puerto Rico also allow online betting,” Patton wrote. See the chart below to understand the impact on betting.
2. An AI Pause? Adoption Slows In the category of who knew? The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a biweekly survey of 1.2 million companies, which includes the question of whether companies have used AI tools such as machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents or voice recognition to help produce goods or services in the past two weeks. Thank you, Apollo Academy, part of Apollo Global Management, for pointing this out to us.
For larger companies, defined as those with more than 250 workers, it appears AI adoption rates have slowed. That data raises more questions than Apollo was willing to answer, or that we can hypothesize on at this time, but it will be sure worth tracking this going forward.
3. Good Evening, Creators! Data from eMarketer shows us when creators are getting the most eyeballs, based on survey of social media users. Looks like night time is the right time.
Fifty-five percent of those polled say they are engaging with creator and influencer content between 5 and 10 p.m., making that traditional, old school TV “prime time” window the most popular time for creators. Of course, YouTube, home to lots of creator content, has put a lot of resources into making the platform work effectively on smart TVs so it’s more of a living room viewing experience.
If you want to stay on top of these creator trends, sign up here for our weekly Creatorverse newsletter penned by Senior Reporter Kayla Cobb.
A week ago today, Casey Bloys, who has spent more than 20 years at HBO, was preparing for a familiar routine: Getting spiffed up for the Emmy Awards.
These days he attends in the elevated role as Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max, and this year’s awards brought special recognition to HBO with surprise wins for “The Pitt.”
Bloys, 53, who grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., and received an economics degree from Northwestern University, spoke to our Loree Seitz following the Emmys. By the way, since becoming president of programming in 2016 and then later CEO, HBO has won 270 Emmys under Bloys’ leadership.
“‘The Pitt’ shows that you can also go back to the formula that was perfected over decades of doing more than 10 episodes … and setting up a show that can return on an annual basis, which was a really important part of television, being there for viewers and fans to spend time with the characters on a more regular basis,” Bloys told Seitz. “What ‘The Pitt’ shows is you can do that at a high quality level, and still maintain those properties. I think that’s great for television, and if we get a few more of those shows to go along with our big, giant cinematic blockbusters, that’s great.”
Leading at HBO, Bloys follows in some pretty big footsteps of predecessors like Michael Fuchs, Jeff Bewkes and Richard Plepler, none of which had to face the tricky landscape Bloys navigates as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was splitting in two, before speculation surfaced that David Ellisons’s new Paramount might be interested in buying WBD.
Bloys stuck to programming talk with Seitz, however, not veering to the larger issues around him. In particular he’s looking at next year. “I’m hoping that ‘The Gilded Age’ and that powerhouse cast get some Emmy love next year; ‘Task,’ which is airing right now with Tom Pelphrey and Mark Ruffalo; I’m hopeful [we] get some recognition for ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.’ We’ve got Richard Gadd’s new show that we’re doing with the BBC, ‘Half Man.’ We’ve got ‘Industry’ coming back. We’ve got a pretty phenomenal limited series with Jason Bateman and David Harbour. Of course, ‘Euphoria’ is coming back. Bill Lawrence has a new Steve Carell comedy that we’re excited about, and ‘The Comeback’ is coming back.”
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