Warner Bros. CEO Apologizes to Employees for ‘Personal Mistakes’
Warner Bros. CEO Apologizes to Employees for ‘Personal Mistakes’
(Bloomberg) -- Warner Bros. Chief Executive Officer Kevin Tsujihara, under investigation for a sexual relationship with an actress he helped to promote, issued an apology to his colleagues at the studio for personal mistakes that caused “pain and embarrassment.”
“I also deeply regret that these personal actions have caused embarrassment to the company and to all of you,” Tsujihara said in the internal message, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. “I realized some time ago you are right to expect more from me and I set a course to do better.”
Tsujihara, 54, acknowledged in the message that his employer is taking another look at his relationship with actress Charlotte Kirk. In a story this week, the Hollywood Reporter said Tsujihara arranged meetings between the actress and executives at Warner Bros. to discuss film and TV projects. He said the company will again hire an outside law firm to investigate.
“I will fully cooperate with this investigation,” Tsujihara said in the note, adding human resources is available to discuss the matter with employees who need to talk.
Kirk, who was reportedly 21 years old when she met Tsujihara, appeared in two Warner Bros. movies, “How to Be Single” in 2016 and “Ocean’s 8” in 2018. She also auditioned for other projects at Warner Bros. and Millennium Films, the publication said, citing hundreds of leaked text messages.
The story followed Tsujihara’s promotion two days earlier in a shake-up at the company, which is now part of AT&T Inc. He was given added responsibility for the company’s kids and young-adult programming in addition to his job running Warner Bros. movie and TV production.
“Please don’t let my mistakes become a distraction,” he wrote. “It’s important that we all stay focused on our work.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum
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