Pixar co-founder John Lasseter has landed on his feet, months after being ousted over a series of misconduct allegations.
Lasseter, who left the animation giant in June, was named head of the animation department at Skydance Media, a production company affiliated with Paramount Pictures, on Wednesday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skydance founder David Ellison told employees in a memo that the company had hired outside counsel to investigate the sexual harassment claims.
“We did not enter into this decision lightly,” Ellison said in a statement. “John has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes, and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavored to address and reform them.”
Neither Ellison nor Lasseter specified how he had learned from his behavior.
Lasseter took a leave of absence from Pixar in 2017, following reports of serial sexual harassment in the workplace that included “grabbing,” “kissing” and “making comments about physical attributes” during meetings and events, sometimes while drunk.
Lasseter apologized to employees for what he called his “missteps” and for any behavior “they felt crossed the line in any way, shape or form.”
In June, he officially stepped down from the company.
The Time’s Up initiative criticized Lasseter’s hiring, arguing that it “endorses and perpetuates a broken system that allows powerful men to act without consequence. At a moment when we should be uplifting the many talented voices who are consistently underrepresented, Skydance Media is providing another position of power, prominence and privilege to a man who has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.”