Hey Sean, welcome back how was your first Thanksgiving as a married couple? I think we could all be grateful and thankful this year that you help Dustin come forward and take down that hideous man, allowing people to be free of his control abuse and manipulation so in this board we are super thankful for you.
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That’s a solid burn right there.
*Yes, Pete was a misogynist. That was clear as day. The starting salary for women on the team was a couple thousand less than the starting salary for guys. The guys were sometimes given expensive gifts when the women were not (Apple watches and game stations for example). And the women were mocked quite viciously behind our backs at times when he was hanging out with the guys (so I was told).
*I'm sorry to disappoint you, the boring truth is Dustin and I never had a flirtatious thing going on. I'm significantly older than Dustin. Plus, I have three kids, and he was in a relationship with my boss. There was quite a bit in place to keep our interactions platonic. We worked on the shows together, but that truly was it. Aside from the occasional outing for The Trip (with Teresa) or work-related projects (with the whole team), I only ever saw or talked to Dustin in the studio.
I mentioned in my Instagram posts that Dustin was very complimentary a couple of times--enough so that it made me question his sexuality. But I also mentioned that Dustin had begun self-medicating by drinking a lot. He got to a point where he was not always sober at work. You wouldn't have been able to see it on camera, but more than once there was a beer bottle back there with Dustin in the production nook when we recorded The Trip (understandably, now that I have the full picture of what he was going through). Anyway, it was during times I suspected he wasn't sober that he was very complimentary, and that likely had more to do with his personal struggle than with me. I never suffered from the delusion that Dustin was genuinely attracted to me. We were friends, but I wouldn't even say that we were close. Pete kept him pretty isolated.
I fully back Dustin coming forward with his story. I am firmly in his corner, but that is not motivated by a special connection we shared back then. It is simply because what happened to him is beyond comprehensible to me. I hate that it was going on right under my nose, and I hate that I didn't know how to navigate it and help him back then. I'm not repeating that mistake. I am here to support him now.
I actually got married in 2021 at the courthouse (taxes) so it was my second year but it was about the same. Neither of our families live near us so we go to the parks for all major holidays. Yesterday was in the high 60s so it was really nice.
Yes, the only other person attached to The Dis that I have known longer than Panda is Jackie. They both were a part of my first steps in the Disney community, The Disney Driven Life and a webcast called Inner Mouse. Panda and I have remained friends the entire time even though we go for long spells without seeing or talking to one another.
And, yes, Panda knew what he was walking into. He called me one day and said, "I'm going to tell you something, but I don't want you to be mad at me." Then he told me he was going to start working with Pete. I don't think he was expecting the response he got. I laughed at him and said, "Well, this is going to end badly." We had a long conversation, and I laid it all out for him. He said he had already made the decision and was definitely going to partner with The Dis. I was never worried about Panda, though. He knows how to grease a wheel so things work in his favor. He also knows how to cut out when things are no longer serving his purposes. So, I told Panda to make sure he protected his brand and not to sign anything that a lawyer didn't look at first. He assured me that he was on top of it all, and that was the last we talked until all of the recent events with Pete broke.
He called me a month or so after everything came to light and he said, "JL, when I was there, it all happened just as you said it would. It's so crazy, but it was just like you said." Interestingly, he wasn't the first person to tell me that. Oliver was.
Oliver also walked into the job with eyes open because I gave him a heads-up before he accepted the job. He, too, reached out to me when he was offered the position. We didn't know each other at all, but I guess he felt I would be the most likely to answer questions he had. He was right. I was very nervous about talking to Oliver because if Pete found out I did, I definitely would have been fired for it. But, in Oliver's case, I felt I had to let him know what he was walking into, so I stuck my neck out. We spent 2 or 3 hours on the phone that night while I talked to him in depth about what it is like for new people. We reviewed the entire team person by person. I told him what he would need to do with each individual to get past the suspicion he would face. Then we talked extensively about what he was walking into with Pete. I didn't sugarcoat it. I told him that he would be sexually harassed because at some point almost all of the guys are, but I stressed that he might get an extra dose of it because he was walking into Dustin's seat and Pete had yucky motives. Oliver said that he really needed the job, though, so he was ready to deal with all of it. And he definitely dealt with all of it. When he quit, though, he called me soon after and said, "JL, it went down exactly as you said. It really was exactly as you said down to the smallest detail."
I had two other people call me when they were offered jobs by Pete. I had been fired by that point, and I guess they wanted an honest take on what they would be accepting. I was able to help both of those individuals steer clear and avoid the trauma they would have definitely suffered. The first one I told, "I am a mother, so I can say this with complete confidence...your parents wouldn't want you to take this job. Run as far as you can in the other direction." The second one, Oliver and I, both, warned about the likelihood of sexual harassment. I told him in no uncertain terms that Pete was a predator, and I couldn't stress enough that he should not accept the dinner invitation Pete extended to him. Oliver told him the same. Luckily, he took our advice and turned down the invitation. When the recent news about Pete drugging and sexually assaulting guys broke, the young man reached out to me to thank me for "saving him." He said, "You and Oliver were strong enough to get out, but I am not that strong of a person. I probably wouldn't have come through ok on the other side." He got to me with that. Not going to lie. I cried when he told me that.
Anyway, those are all the people who I informed about The Dis before they walked into it. I wanted them to know what they were choosing since I didn't have a complete picture when I jumped in. Some still moved forward. Some didn't. All stepped away with the same thoughts and feelings about the company.
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No, my feelings about Ryno don't have anything to do with returning the check. He told me that he gave Pete the check, and I believe him. Regardless, I texted Pete about the check, so he would have been aware it was waiting for him even if Ryno hadn't given the check to Pete.
I imagine that Ryno didn't get into the reason he and I ended on less-than-ideal terms on his livestream because he doesn't want to open that door. If he ever does, I'll walk through it with an accurate retelling of events. For now, though, I am aware that he has been on the beating end of the stick enough since I left, and I don't want to contribute to that.
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Craig and Ryno were great on the Universal Show, and I give Ryno credit for being one of the more creative and witty minds on the team. He does truly have cool and original ideas that are "out of the box" (or at least that was the case when I was there). Ryno and I, initially, had a great start. I think I was the first person to welcome him because I didn't want him to feel like I did when I first came on board. I asked him out to lunch so that I would have a chance to get to know him and help him not feel awkward about being new.I've been wondering about this as well. I would guess that he took part in throwing coworkers under the bus for his gain or protection or whatever you want to call it. Pete asked me who my favorite person on the show was as well. I said JL, especially when she was on the universal show because was the adult in the room with a couple of adolescents. But I actually loved how relaxed and ridiculous Craig and Ryno were on the universal show, and then JL would just comically sigh out of annoyance as she tried to keep the conversation and topic moving along. Anyways, back to when told Pete that JL was my favorite, he told me "well you know she was actually a very hard person to work with. Craig and Ryno always complained to me that she was lazy and would never pull her weight." Again, I have seen the light and recognize that I can't really trust anything he told me. But I do wonder if they talked bad about JL to Pete before and after her termination to help them stay in good graces with the evil queen.
We also had a great time during the trip that I took with the team to Disneyland. We were ride buddies. I found him very charming and funny. We had a great time, and, during those days, I thought there was potential for us to become close friends. Sadly, this did not end up being the case, but we were able to put on a smile and do our jobs together. And we did just that.
As far as Craig goes, he and I have always had a great friendship. His job was threatened once because he took a picture with me (after I was fired) and posted it on his Instagram. He knew that was a risk he was taking by doing that, but he said he didn't care and did it anyway. My point is that I have always considered Craig and I to be close. We worked together on media events quite a bit. He was aware that I hustled to get stuff done. And I was usually chasing him for the Universal episode topic so that I could prepare. I seriously doubt Craig would have accused me of not pulling my weight. I suppose he could have, but it doesn't seem likely.
What is likely is that Pete made this stuff about Craig and Ryno up because "I framed a single mother for theft and then kicked her and her three children to the curb so that I could have the headcount available and lure my recent sexual abuse victim back" doesn't sound as professional. Looking at where we ended up, though, I think it is obvious who pulls her weight and who is just weight.
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@imjenilynn , I asked a week or 2 ago about the cameras in the bathroom disclosure by Charles. Not sure if you saw it or felt uncomfortable talking about it. Do you really think that Pete was twisted enough to have the capability to do something like that which is a criminal offense? Once again, if you don't want to answer then ignore this or tell me to go away. Thanks for sharing your stories with us.
Thank you again for sharing your experiences, JL, they are really helpful in being able to put the pieces together. You've mentioned Theresa a few times. Given the family relationship with Pete that she had, did she ever challenge him or "fight back" when she felt something was out of sorts or unfair?
I'd imagine if anyone had the ammo to push back on Pete it would be his sister-in-law.
Why are people still supporting those individuals? Thanks again, JL, for your ongoing contributions. I find myself increasingly disheartened by the direction things have taken. The initial charm of the DIS felt like fan club, where it felt unique and like a community of friends discussing Disney, has shifted. It's now less about friendship and more about condescension regarding Disney and left-wing politics. The focus has shifted from informative segments and fan interactions to what feels like a C-level vlog channel. Mammoth Club achieved impressive subscriber numbers in less than a year.
The heart and the passion dropped off BIG time a few years ago, in my estimation, and I did stop supporting them. The attitudes and behaviors by the leadership of that company, ths DIS, the boards, Ryno's monetizing of the whole thing, since Pete's disgusting predatory actions have been revealed have absolutely destroyed any chance of me ever giving them another shot.
They would have to sell the channel to someone entirely disconnected from their whole toxic structure for me to even glance that direction again.
Yes, sadly this was the case. Jackie's determination to remain positive about everything grated John, Kevin, and Teresa. They weren't kind behind her back, and they were passive-aggressive to her face. Kathy, of the Disboards, was also particularly vicious to Jackie since Jackie was initially hired to moderate the Disboards and change the negative quality that had taken hold.
Jackie is a Pollyanna. It is her nature. She is loyal. She is supportive. And she works incredibly hard to make the lives of those around her easier. I understand how people can find her unconditional blasts of sunshine frustrating because it can read as a denial of existing problems; however, it is her way. And it does make her an easy target.
Corey has been more successful with protecting Jackie from Pete than he has been with others like me. Around the time I left, he convinced Pete to move Jackie under his umbrella. At that point, Jackie (who understands a bit about html and maintaining websites), took on content creation for the site. I think the argument could be made that she is now Corey's right hand. He would be sort of up a creek if she wasn't there to support him, and that gives her a good degree of protection from the people in the company (past and present) that would threaten her job.
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I don't have many stories about John because I didn't interact with him or Kevin much. They were primarily off doing their thing with the travel agency. When I was at D23 with the team, the three of us got along really well. It was the one time that they actively included me in their plans because we worked the booth together. I liked them while I was there. I got along with them.
That being said, when I was ousted by Pete, John stood by and did nothing. Also, John blocked me from being able to retrieve my phone number from the company's account. To explain, when I was hired, my personal phone number was absorbed by the company so that I wouldn't have to worry about paying for a phone bill. When I was fired, I asked for my phone number to be released back to me since it had ALL of my contacts prior to being at The Dis as well as after--family, friends, everything. Corey tried very hard to make that happen for me. He contacted the phone company and wrestled with them quite a bit as the president of the company. It still came down to him needing John or Pete, one of the owners of the company, to talk with the phone carrier and approve the release. He went to John since Pete would have been a dead end. John denied Corey and blocked his ability to help me even though the phone number was mine prior to being hired. There was no reason for this other than John being afraid of Pete or John just being cruel. It definitely messed up a lot for me and added insult to injury.
John also yanked my medical insurance a month before our agreed-upon time without giving me notice. I was stuck paying for labs upwards of $1k because I didn't realize they were no longer covered until I received the bill. That would have 100% been John because Pete didn't manage our insurance.
You guys saw what he felt was a professional response to the news about Pete coming to light. It is completely in line with his character. What more can be said?
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It was pretty standard to offer incentives to essential people on the team when others were fired. It might be a raise. It might be a stake in the profits coming from YouTube or Patreon. It might be expensive gifts. It all was done to make it harder for the remaining members to walk just in case they were considering doing that.
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John will look at the boards if someone directs him to it. In this case, I could see him being directed to it by a number of people. They probably sought him out for guidance on how to handle posts about me. How it is being handled is very predictable.
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I'm trying to take the questions directed at me in the order that they were asked so that I don't lose my place. And because I'm trying to carefully consider my words before I throw them carelessly out into the universe, it is taking me a little longer than we would probably all like. I promise I will get to your question. I have every intention of answering it. I'm just having to balance my responsibilities at home and work with posting, and it is all taking time.
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This. 100% this.
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She does know the truth. And because she is married to Corey, she probably knows more of the truth than half of the team. If she ever steps away from the company, maybe she will explain why she did make this choice. I think I know why (and if it is what I think, I totally get it), but she has to be the one to tell her story. No one should expect that to happen, though, until she and Corey are disconnected from The Dis.
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So grateful to you for taking the time to respond to everyone as thoughtfully as you are, JL.
At what point into your business relationship with Pete did you first recognize some of his abusive or toxic traits?
It seems like with narcissists and even sociopaths that they try to control their image as much as possible and then gaslight you into thinking it was in your head when you notice who they really are. So what was that first OMG moment for you and did he realize you caught a glimpse of the "real" him?
In addition to that, Sean has shared how Pete basically forces people into being his "escort" in one way or another by buying companionship/favor. How often did Pete try and force you to join him for dinners and outings in the name of "business" just to keep tabs on you and have you as a paid friend so he wasn't doing stuff alone?
Moderator Kathy has a special place in the hearts of many on the DIS Boards and over here, albeit with comments couched in significantly more colorful language and descriptors than "vicious".
Excepting team members who had families to support and needed a steady paycheck, with all the talk of low pay and toxicity, why did our cast of characters stick around?
Why not just get a job at one of the parks? For that matter, Target has a fantastic management training program.
Not to answer my own question, but I have a working theory that those who cover the theme park world, either through things like the DIS or folks on DisTwitter couldn’t cut it at a company like Disney in a serious role. They participate in it in an arm’s length and easy way. JL’s fantastic success at Disney likely disproves my theory, but it’s just the vibe I get from most bloggers.
Why not just get a job at one of the parks? For that matter, Target has a fantastic management training program.
Not to answer my own question, but I have a working theory that those who cover the theme park world, either through things like the DIS or folks on DisTwitter couldn’t cut it at a company like Disney in a serious role. They participate in it in an arm’s length and easy way. JL’s fantastic success at Disney likely disproves my theory, but it’s just the vibe I get from most bloggers.
WebmasterKathy and I got in some notorious battles. Jackie has always been a bright spot for me, she brought me on there. Others (Kathy, Doc, Pete) seemingly tried to shut me up, and of course eventually got rid of me. Seeing some of those Jackie and Kathy behind the scenes battles was eye opening for sure.
JL, something that struck me over the years was the lack of people of color on the show. I think a couple of years ago a black gentleman joined for a live chat but that was about it. Pete and the rest would often crow about their progressive credentials but that only seemed to extend to the G part of LGBTQ+ and the other progressive causes. Do you think it was because he saw all new male hires as potential lovers and he just didn't 'fancy' non-whites? Or was it just a coincidence? And I don't remember seeing a black woman featured on any show, ever. I'm not accusing Pete or the other owners of racism but there was a hint of that back in 2008 in this blog post by a lady called Suzanne:
Click on this link: https://suzannesez.blogspot.com/2008/05/glad-that-im-not-guilty-by-association.html
It starts with
"May 24, 2008
I thought I was done with the DISboards stuff, really I did.
However, the hypocrisy and racism displayed by Webmaster Pete and others on a memorial show is deplorable."
There is some fairly juicy stuff in the middle and it ends with:
"The DISboards is run to increase business for Pete's web based TRAVEL AGENCY. Would you want to give business to a company that not only has such idiotic and racist views, but shares them on three different occasions on a podcast that you could have found (until 11pm last night) on iTunes?
It was only until this was pointed out by Janet on the UnDIS that they quickly pulled the offensive version. I guess they didn't think it was offensive. They thought wrong."
What is very interesting was the reference to the 'UnDIS'. It seems that this is a forum called 'The Unoriginal DIS Troublemakers Club' set up by the 1000+ people expelled from the DisBoards in 2008. It can be found here https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theunoriginaldistroublemakersclub/circle-of-sarcasm-f3/
I initially tried to Google 'UnDis' but came up with nothing, the top search result was just a list of questions about the DisUnplugged from 2012 with one of the questions being "What happened to the new hire Scott? I heard him on a few podcasts and then he was gone." and another asking " What exactly is the purpose of the Welcome Center at the port? I don't get it. Was it to give Walter something to do all day?"
LOL, ten years later and nothing changes.
Click on this link: https://suzannesez.blogspot.com/2008/05/glad-that-im-not-guilty-by-association.html
It starts with
"May 24, 2008
I thought I was done with the DISboards stuff, really I did.
However, the hypocrisy and racism displayed by Webmaster Pete and others on a memorial show is deplorable."
There is some fairly juicy stuff in the middle and it ends with:
"The DISboards is run to increase business for Pete's web based TRAVEL AGENCY. Would you want to give business to a company that not only has such idiotic and racist views, but shares them on three different occasions on a podcast that you could have found (until 11pm last night) on iTunes?
It was only until this was pointed out by Janet on the UnDIS that they quickly pulled the offensive version. I guess they didn't think it was offensive. They thought wrong."
What is very interesting was the reference to the 'UnDIS'. It seems that this is a forum called 'The Unoriginal DIS Troublemakers Club' set up by the 1000+ people expelled from the DisBoards in 2008. It can be found here https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theunoriginaldistroublemakersclub/circle-of-sarcasm-f3/
I initially tried to Google 'UnDis' but came up with nothing, the top search result was just a list of questions about the DisUnplugged from 2012 with one of the questions being "What happened to the new hire Scott? I heard him on a few podcasts and then he was gone." and another asking " What exactly is the purpose of the Welcome Center at the port? I don't get it. Was it to give Walter something to do all day?"
LOL, ten years later and nothing changes.
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Out of curiosity I checked, and it appears that our favorite webmaster hasn't posted on The DIS (at least under that account) since the incident in early August where she violated the posting guidelines. I wonder if that's a battle that Corey was able to win. That said, the account does still appear in a search so hasn't been deleted entirely.
There was a mass-banning from the boards back then and a bunch of the banned came together on a new message board. If you google "circle of sarcasm undis" you'll find it. The posts can get pretty snarky about some of the posts and posters on the DIS (particularly from the community forum) but they've also kept up with the news and talked about PW, the mods, etc.
Thanks, I edited my post to include this.
Yes I do believe she got in trouble. To what extent I’m not sure. She’s good friends with John and Kevin so I can’t imagine her being out of the picture completely.
Didn’t she say something antisemitic? Not that I think John and Kevin care much, but I’m glad she hasn’t been back around.
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