He was my hero when i was a child. i always wanted to work at pixar and meet him in person. Twas my dream job Sadly Im a dentist now And he isn’t at pixar... The dream fades away

Disney messed this up; John Lasetter is a creative genius, and Disney has gone downhill since he left.

Used to be that women were afraid to come forward and speak up about things men had done to them. Now it's men who are afraid to come forward to defend their fellow men against accusations, lest they be torn down and ruined for having the gall to even acknowledge the possibility of the accusations being false. And it's making men afraid to speak to, get close to, or even just look at women; that kind of fear is how you fester hatred. It's in that fear that it takes root and grows. This will lead to a generation of men who simply hate women; we're already seeing the start of it in the worse parts of the MGTOW movement. The irony, hypocrisy, and double standards of the "me too" movement is quite shocking to behold. But what do I know? I'm a conservative, Christian, heterosexual, white Male, so obviously I'm just part of the problem too, and basically the worst scumbag of a human being to ever live, right?

John Lasseter does not deserve this. He is not nearly the monster Harvey Weinstein has been shown to be. Maybe he did do some inappropriate things, and some of those things, if true, I cannot defend in good conscience, but the hugging at least seems like it only happened maybe once or twice per person accusing him because hugging is just a thing he likes to do to show appreciation and gratitude for his subordinates' hard work. I wish I had bosses who were half that appreciative of the hard work I do and the sacrifices I make for my job. There's no crime in that, even if it did make a few people uncomfortable. And if it did, then he does need to apologize for violating their personal space like that, but even then, why wait until now? Why not say, "Hey, Boss, I love working for you, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't hug me." then and there? If it continued, then there's appropriate steps to take to make sure it stops. As things stand now, I have a hard enough time connecting with people on more than a friendship level, and even then can barely do that. If this keeps up, women accusing men of rape and other so-called sexual misconduct and willingly ruining their lives in the process, especially when it's not true just to get attention, I'll die alone if I have to. It's a game, and games have winners and losers, and I'm not playing this one.

Innocent until clear evidence is provided

Possibly you've read a short story ("Hands") from a book called Winesburg, Ohio. It is about a teacher in Pennsylvania that was very tactile in his teaching. It wasn't sexual, but merely how he operated. The rumor mill got started and the teacher gets run out of town and ends up in Ohio. Not sure what he had done except that it had something to do with his hands, he remains a nervous wreck. At any rate "Hands" reminds me of the John Lasseter case in particular (and others as well). Yes some people are uncomfortable with hugs and the like, myself included. But if someone hugged me my discomfort does not mean that I've been criminally abused and the person should never, ever, work again. Another aspect of the "problem" is that women will often not complain when they perceive their personal space violated...and of course causes a problem because we aren't mind readers.

when i first read about Mr. Lasseter i thought he just had bad people skills and its just something he needs to work on no ones perfect

Did any of the alleged victims tell John they didn't want such contact? If you are uncomfortable with someone's actions you have to tell them. He's basically being crucified for not being a mind reader.

On “a day with John Lasseter” it even shows him saying that every morning he gives everyone a hug and it follows him literally giving all his employees a hug each 🥺

It’s funny. When the Lasseter accusations happened, I was already done with the MeToo movement. So I didn’t even look into the allegations. Now that I know the allegations, wow. This man did nothing sexual in nature, and very likely didn’t have sexual intentions. John shouldn’t have gotten booted for this, and as another commenter stated, the joke is on Disney. Disney animation has seriously fallen off since John left. We should also take solace in the fact that John is nowhere near finished. I’m glad that the true friends he’s made along the way have stuck with him and are making movies for Skydance’s new animation studio. This reminds me of when Dreamworks hopped onto the animation scene in the 90’s. Very excited to see what comes out of this. Competition is good.

I get that in an ideal world, no one should ever cross the hugging boundary without asking first. But we're not in an ideal world, and if someone hugs you while you don't like hugs, it's your duty to let the person know that you're unconfortable.

I no longer put any stock whatsoever in sexual misconduct allegations. I believe them to all be malicious falsehoods until an investigation by trained professionals has resulted in a conclusive verdict. I firmly believe that punishing people for being accused of sexual misconduct is a gross misuse of power and speaks to the weakness of character on the part of the entity enacting the punishment. If the verdict is an inconclusive "he's probably guilty", I revert to my default "it was a malicious lie." Notice I said "he", because women don't have to worry about sexual misconduct allegations.

I never really took the thing with John Lasseter serious because I saw him in a documentary with Miyazaky (Japanese animation directior), he would just hug this famous director from a completely other culture no holds barred! Honestly I was laughing when I heard the news, I thougt some of his hugging victims has had enough and took the "me too"-thing as a reason to complain. I hope he has a nice sabatical.

I'm a little skeptical on the story about John being too close to the cast of Tinkerbell. The cast of the franchise included Mae Whitman, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven-Symone, Lucy Liu, America Ferrera, and Pamela Adlon. All of these women are mature enough to know if John is being inappropriate to them. Only two, Whitman and Raven, are considered "young", but they're in their twenties, not naive teenagers. All of them are veterans of Hollywood who know the ins and outs. John, before the scandal broke, was awarded by the Walt Disney Family Museum for lifetime achievement and those attended included Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell (the voice actresses for Frozen) both of whom are outspoken feminists. If they had no gripes about John and are happy to work with him, then is John's socially awkward touchings really that big enough to warrant a moral scandal?

Look how shit Pixar is today. Very easy to understand it was a political move.

John, you´ve got a friend in me. You´re mi biggest héroe. Thank you, John Lasseter.

Great video Troy Leavitt ! It was a very rational examination of the 'facts' as we were presented them.... sadly though I feel rational thought is now sorely absent in such extreme times with social/online media.

I knew about John Lasseter's behavior from peers of mine that worked with him. They never really thought anything of it since he's always been a "hands on" kinda guy even with male employees. He never did anything sexual or made any sexual advances. He just liked rubbing and hugging everyone. It's how he bonded with others and built trust. His only crime is he doesn't know how to adult 😜

Is really hard to talk about cases of people we admire and have some emotional conection to (wherever might be through art or personaly ) letting us down , but you explained yourself in a very pragmatic and unbiased way. Thanks for talking about this.

This must be a hard time for you. I hope both you get through it and hopefully, become better people in the process, especially Mr. Lasseter.

All I can say is, I was really saddened when I heard about this...

A rare and beautifully nuanced exploration. Thank you.

I'm on your side man #hopefornewbeginings #forgiveness #peacetoall

I was very surprised to have heard about John's allegations... It was a shocker after all the admiration we all had for him and work on making us dream through animation... I really appreciate what you have done here, a very smart take and analysis on a difficult situation... Dealing with allegations of such nature and also the extreme attitude of American society that makes man be abnormal at any moment or any time for anything... Exaggeration is now the new normal, and ruining someone's life is more accepted than procuring to find solutions or give people a chance when they make a mistake... I appreciate that you took the time to highlight the "hope" vs. only the criticism that is typical of our current society!!

This is the climate that we live in. It is heartbreaking, but I agree with Claires analysis that America is sliding towards extremism. In high school, I had more female friends than male friends. I was a pretty sensitive person, but I didnt really know why. I just had more in common with girls. We liked the same tv shows, we liked talking about clothes and books, I had a lot of friends that were in to Shoujos which are romantic japanese anime. Years into the future, I would come out as bisexual, but at the time I just thought I was just one of those weird guys that enjoyed female company. Now, I have almost no friends aside from my partner whom I can talk to. I still dont relate to most men, I dont like sports, or cars, or talking about guns. But now I can't talk to women in the same way I used to, because I'm a man. Women talk with Women and men talk with men. That is the world that is now created. I cry about this sometimes. I hate this world, I hate not being able to talk about the latest episode of Housewives, or talk about a new shoujo, because women will think i'm just trying to trick them into sleeping with them. I have to now be extremely careful and concious about what I do and say. Even when I pass a woman in the hallway, I make sure to lock my hands behind my back, so I don't accidentally rub against the person. If it wasn't for my partner, I'd probably be in a grave. My partner is a beautiful woman and I am so happy they are in my life. I would be a very isolated and depressed man right now if it wasn't for them. I am deeply saddened by the aftermath of the Me2 Movement. Because I know deep down that there is someone out there who is just like me, who DOESN'T have a partner like me, and they are just alone in this forsaken climate. A world where being a man is a sin, and those of us men who are much more effeminate are now cut off from people who we can truly relate to.

This was very thoughtful and a fair assessment from personal experience and perspective.

My nephew loved the cars 2 game

I just don't understand why is so hard to keep your hands to your self ... specially if you are married I don't get it what is so difficult about that ....

Great video, Troy. Tanks!

Cars 2 was my favorite game back in the day!

I don’t think what he did was any worse then some creepy old men and women have been in my life. It’s like a generational thing. I don’t think the younger generation will be the same.

I feel like these allegations have gotten out of control. You're talking about someone who has had such a great impact on animation, and kids films in the past 40 years that he is pretty much the next Walt Disney. Allegations like this can destroy a career, it's dangerous. It's becoming a new Salem Witch Trials.

John Lasseter wouldn't do that. He's not Harvey Weinstein.

If the worst they got on him is what has been revealed I mean really. This guy is only a huggy sugar daddy. You imagine, a man with this amount of power, if he was a full blown predator, he could do so much worse.

Really good video and Im very glad you decided to make it.

Yeah, this is going too far. You don't want to be hugged and/or pat on the back? Simply say you want your personal space. If THAT isn't respected, THEN you can threaten with police authority. FINALLY, if that doesn't work, you can call the police. It seems they were hugged like once or twice, didn't say anything at the time and now accuse of sexual harasment- over a friendly act of hugging and back-patting. It's stuff like this that makes me want to say "I don't want to live on this planet anymore". Milo Yiannopoulos and Ben Shapiro is right in one thing they've said: (third-wave) feminism is cancer. Which is sad, because the original feminism movement was a good thing.

"Everyone has the right to set their own boundaries and have them respected." Yeah, but no one has the right to just privately set those boundaries and never make anyone else aware of them until they're crossed. It's the most regressive of ancient human behaviors, to just privately imagine a little circle around "your territory" and use it as justification to relentlessly and mercilessly bully anyone who crosses into that circle without giving them the slightest warning or benefit of the doubt. "This [person] hugged me and, as a [person], that made me feel violated." People in the US hug each other, hugs are pretty much the first human contact anyone here ever receives, there's no existing cultural standard saying hugs are a violation, so if you personally feel that way and you never say anything until someone hugs you, that's on you. You have no right to enforce your own private little world onto everyone else, and if you think you do, you're a part of what's been wrong with humanity since before language existed. Do I have sympathy for people who were never hugged, or people whose earliest histories of human contact are rooted in abuse instead of love? Of course I do. I just don't understand why those people would rather inflict further abuse on others than try to spread the sort of sympathy they always wished they could have had.

I am an animation major from Indiana and right now I’m working on starting my own company. Before I felt the call to start that, I, as most every animation major I know would have loved to work at Pixar, and as a huge Disney/Pixar fan would still love to work for Pixar. With that said, the allegations as far as I know, are still only allegations. John doesn’t deserve this, and I don’t believe he has actually done anything wrong. With his apology as well, he showed that he’s not going to hide anything. If the allegations are true, yes that is disappointing, but note that former employees were accusing this. Normally, that means they left on bad terms. I could be wrong. Mistakes can always be made, but they can also be fixed.

I know this video is kind of old, but did you work on Cars 3: Driven to Win?

We have reached a point where if a woman accuses a man of a sex crime on social media, we to ask "where's your police report?" and if hasn't filed and refuses to file we have to assume she is lying.

how does it get to this point? you can only water down "rape" so much until that one person with the free hugs sign is tackled down to the ground by cops and jailed for rape. If you paint everything with the same brush, well, your canvas will be all shades of the same colour.

I just saw this video now, because I don' want to take sides or believe one story unless it was from someone who worked with him and not from articles written by people who don't even know him personally. It's still saddening until now. I do hope everything works well. Pixar saved me. I really do it will be just as before. All the love. =)

He was fixing your pay too, colluding with the competition wasn't he?

Cars was my favorite film growing up. And John Lasseter is my favorite director. This is what I site when arguing agents the me too movement

Thanks for sharing your views. I know I was hit pretty hard when hearing of the accusations as well. And now hope it was more of friendly gestures taken wrongly, than anything of the criminal minded type! I like the background insight, as well as the delicate way of trying to work with your feelings over what are the publicly known facts... And taking everything through a logical path! Only time will tell... But John has taken long "trip" before to clear his head and reconnect with his family and creative spirits (I remember the stories of traveling with his family for inspiration for the CARS movie originally). Maybe this will do all sides well, and everyone involved can find a peaceful resolve... Man we need some positive news sometime soon! Haha maybe more diet updates over the crazy holiday feeding frenzies... To help distract us :-)

Well said Troy

I'd like a bit more evidence, I guess i have a bit more digging to do on this topic, this is the second video i've seen on this topic

he casted kevin spacey in bugs life weird isn t it

please, don't delete your account. stay normal and reasonable despite all the crazy people around

Unforunately the realization of the harm caused by this "listen and believe" mentality still hasn't reached these extremely vocal women. They are still drunk in the power it has brought to them and until it comes back to bite them in the ass, they'll revel upon it. One can only hope the casualties are low before that happens.

"In recent years, especially, we have become prone to replacing complex thought" (and meaningful discourse on it) "with shallow slogans." and trite dismissals.. aka "memes" and "shitposting". I am not going to say John Lasseter "did nothing wrong", but I don't think he deserves the same level of scrutiny and reprisal that others are due for their misconduct. Hugging too long is not assault. Groping, maybe; depends on the nature, intent, and context. Even still, I think his genial behavior needed some recognition of physical boundaries and some consideration of consent. Some people just do not like their personal space being violated by anyone for any reason, even benign ones, and he should have long ago been admonished to correct that particular excess of his behavior.

And then recently it was discovered that he hated Disney Television Animation because he thinks that its “just a factory for a bunch of Nickelodeon and CN rejects”.

Because of everything said in this video, I just have this to say. I have been a huge fan of Pixar since I was just born. Their movies were a huge thing in my life, and they have left a huge impact on me as a whole. I always loved seeing a movie right after seeing Luxo Jr hoping through the Pixar logo. Yes, they have had their negative receptions before, but that didn’t mean that they were bad. Their work has inspired me to do some of my own original work, and even got me to thinking that I can have a full time job at the studio, but I realized that it probably won’t happen. The main people from over there, John Lasseter, Pete Doctor, Lee Unkrich, Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, Darla K. Andersen, and many more, are legends. They have changed the whole animation industry so much with the release of their first ever movie, Toy Story. And now that John Lasseter left them for sexual allegations is just heartbreaking. I have never thought of him as a person who would do that, but let’s keep this in mind. A lot of women from Disney have spoken out about themselves being victims of John, but does that mean I need to side with them? No, because I think it’s pointless to choose sides. Does that mean that I can never give John anymore respect? No, because accusing someone for it isn’t my problem, but I do understand how big of a problem it is for some people. I have nothing but respect for John, who went to shape up the animation industry into what it is today, who never gave up on what story he wants to tell, and who also never gives up on his employees to work very hard. My respect for him will never change, but my vision for Pixar studios might as well. The issue I have is that everyone, not the victims of him, is just jumping to conclusion and saying that John is a suspect of sexual misconduct. Do people not understand that you have to see it happen to believe it? Well, here’s the thing. I am heartbroken by him leaving Disney, and being a suspect of it. But I never saw it happen. Not saying that it didn’t happen, I just don’t know what happened exactly. If people hate John Lasseter, then that’s fine, but why exactly? I understand the misconduct stuff, but what other things? P.S. Cars 2 is not an answer. But yeah, John Lasseter has always been someone that I always had so much faith with. I love his work, and I hope you guys love it too. He directed the first 2 Toy Story movie, one of my top 10 favorite animated movies of all time, and A Bug’s Life, a charming animated movie with creativity. He also directed the first 2 Cars movies, his weakest work, mainly Cars 2. All I’m saying really is just have respect for his talents if you loved some of his works, and have respect for him as a whole for changing the animation industry as a whole.

John Lasseter may have crossed a line, but I doubt it warranted the treatment he received and the humiliation he suffered. One thing that's rarely mentioned is how often sexual assault or even harassment charges are false or exaggerated. According to some studies of police data, the percentage of false reports may be as high as 40%. Men are absolutely correct to avoid women in the workplace. In some cases, men have been dismissed even when video evidence refuted the accuser's account.

Has anything else been released about John? I hope nothing bad has came out in the last 5 years.

I don't get it. No names, no evidence and no one coming out and standing against Lassetter. Are we expected to believe he's some kind of perv with this kind of articles? To me this just sounds like people being too afraid of human contact or misunderstandings or even making stuff up.

How do you think Lasseter was able to overcome his allegations?

It has been well-known that John Lasseter was a hugger. I’ve seen behind the scenes videos of him hugging people all the time. That’s not sexual misconduct. Maybe these women should have let him know hugging is not their thing. People aren’t mind-readers.

im sorry. I cant believe this either.

EVERYBODY AT PIXAR MADE SUCH A BIG F**KING DEAL OF JOHN'S MISCONDUCT, he's the heart and soul of Pixar, they never should of made him leave

I hate how the media compares anyone who gets "me tooed" to Harvey Weinstein. This me too movement is getting out of hand, and is just a weapon for spiteful women to ruin men's lives. Lasseter made some mistakes (I'm not defending his actions), but what he did was a far cry from the actions of other Hollywood executives. The media tried their best to ruin John's life. Thankfully he is at skydance animation now, and I hope he destroys Disney.

I bet he won’t be in Toy Story 5 project

When you hear the leg touching bit - it sounds creepy, but is it. ~I have been in many social situations where a woman (colleague) has lent over and touched my leg/arm while talking. Sure if the touch becomes a sexually charged fondle. This is becoming very much a moral panic and will help to divide us even further. P.S. how many of us men remember when you were a boy and a drunk aunt would become over touchy with squeezing, etc, exclaiming what a "wonderful boy" - "so cute". Personally I used to laugh it off as did my piers.

Troy did you work on the disney infinity games? I'm a fan of that series and avalanches work on toy story 3. I feel you guys got screwed over by disney interactive because the avalanche team are great developers and were doing amazing things with Disney Infinity. I've collected most of the figures,playsets, and power discs. Plan on collecting them all. Back to Lasseter though, I just really don't want to believe the accusations are true because he seems like such a nice and gentle guy 😣. I hope he finds success at Skydance and proves people wrong about him 🤞

Can someone please tell me what this is all about? Did he actually get fired?

Hey bro let me get a job in video games. Trust me, I'm great.

I understand the distinction of degree, but you kinda glossed over the whole groping aspect? Groping is something even a young boy knows is wrong. That's like rapey vibes. That's hella higher degree than a simple, too long, uncomfortable hug.

Wow, dude. Well said.

Good video, I think it's a mistake to call it a 'defense' of Lasseter though. It's less that you defended him, more that you put his alleged offences into perspective.

I didn't know this was happening. Didn't pay much attendention to the #MeToo "movement" but I feel some people are just using it as an excuse for attention, some people just want the apologies.

While I don't 100% percent agree with Troy. I commend him for making a strong argument about his thoughts and beliefs!

Well said.

It’s less awkward if he has “hugged” men as well. If an executive is willing to quit her billion dollar company, then these “hands over her body” must’ve been excited. Idk people. Logic.

As man you have to know what is ok and what is not. Lasseter acted like a little boy. He's not a bad person in my opinion but he made some women uncomfortable. Therefore he has to change. Nevertheless he's a great producer and story teller. I hope he can recover from this.

Even Caddicarus liked Cars 2.

Jorgen klubien is original storyboard of Cars, Jorgen stole it he was sacked for it. Cars was a small piece of what was stolen. John is not quite as nice as he likes to tell it. I am glad your experience was rewarding, it shows he learnt something from the past.

Accusations are not facts. Innocent until proven guilty.

have you considered that hes just being lied about to destroy him?

Thanks for making this video.

Keep your hands to yourself, John.

This is a little late, I know, but I think a different perspective might help. John Lasseter sounds like someone on the high functioning autistic spectrum, like myself. There are significant differences between what I know of him and me, to be sure, like he seems to be outgoing and I'm more introverted, but there are probably commonalities as well. One thing is that I have had to be carefully taught to respect others limits, and I may not be able to express myself as well as I ought to be as a result. It's possible that he simply wasn't given a lot of the type of behavioral guidance I was. I'm not saying anything conclusive, but the allegations against him give me the impression that he may share similarities with me that may help explain some of his behavior.

Blind accusation is just as bad as blind defense. You can "hope" for things, but it doesn't mean that they're based in reality. A single event could simply be a misunderstanding, but if something comes up over and over again then it's a problem. Pixar and Disney hire talent based on skills which take years to develop. It's a dumb idea on multiple levels to create an environment which would not only mess with the company culture, but also opens Disney up to legal issues. Bad behavior from the top-down can ruin a company. Lasseter will be out by the end of the year.

It's pretty clear Disney just wanted him out

There's a difference between "violating personal space" and "sexual assault"... or at least there used to be -,-

For an office situation where the boss is a "hugger", being the lone non-hugger has the potential to create an outsider situation. It doesn't have to be purposeful, it could just happen. Any other thing that separates you from the group has the same potential. If you are the person that doesn't like dirty jokes, doesn't go out drinking after work, doesn't make it to the company picnic, doesn't play on the company softball team, etc. it could push you to the outside. It could even happen if your attitude doesn't mesh well with the group. The person in charge should be the one to make sure they are not making the lower level employee uncomfortable. You can't just assume that because you are ok with something that everyone else is. There is also the possibility that unintentional intimidation could make an employee say a situation is ok with them when it really is not. Still there comes a time when a line is crossed where the employee should clearly state that they are not ok with a situation. If they are taken aback in the moment and cannot communicate, the problem should be taken care of as soon as possible afterward.

Metoo mutated in Sweden and it turned into a full blown inquisition here (quelle surprise). New fields get their own hashtag all the time, much of it is important, there are problems so don't get me wrong; but all the accused just take it without offering explanation, rebuttals or denial. This moral panic could have stopped if just one guy refused to back down and shouted "SLANDER!" followed by "See you in court".

17:02 There have been plenty of historical sexual taboos for men as well

Make up Disney want to get rip of John Lassester

If John Lasseter gets fired, I will miss him deeply. I've known Pixar since I was 7. 😢

John Lasseter was my hero as a young child. I wanted to work at Pixar, and I would watch the behind-the-scenes features on the dvds over and over again, and I tried to fully understand computer animation at the age of six. it's certainly hard to take when one of your childhood heroes does something like this.

I was deeply distressed to hear that John Lasseter overstepped boundaries with members of his studio. I was also saddened to hear just how much alcohol, seemed to be a factor in these incidents. He needs to establish a better relationship with alcohol and realize that other people have different physical boundaries then he does.

John just seems like a weird guy. Not so much a "bad" guy, but just a little socially awkward. Not sure why this couldn't just be handled internally. If ya don't like something, tell em.

I don't believe it.

I for one am in my second year of avoiding women wherever possible. Not that they are missing out on much, but I am willing to bet I'm not the only one. As long as we live in a society where any woman can ruin any man's life without evidence I shall remain alone. If that means I must be a loner for the rest of my life then so be it.

Another victim of this witch hunt that is the me too hashtag. If hugging someone puts you into major trouble, then we are all screwed because there is nothing more cool than to be hugged by someone you like. But if all the other accusations were true, then he is in a grey area of trouble, but NOTHING illegal in the issue.

This was a good opinion piece

If you ask me someone was jealous and decided to me 2 him

Seeing the madness that has been gripping this world, the moral outrage/panic over #metoo and years of seeing people condemning the groups I am a part of through birth, it is safe to say that dating and even marriage and kids will be off the table for me in the foreseeable future. Thank you, feminism, for showing me that being with you and other women will only end in misery, fear and condemnation...

I Don't Condone Sexual Harassment But As a fan of Lasseter Myself i Believe he's Innocent Until Proven Guilty

It's a wonder this doesn't have a thousand dislikes by now!