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A Spirited Perfect Ten
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
Smiddimizer
Well-Known Member
And just when I was getting up to use the bathroom
alissafalco
Well-Known Member
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
Now this is gonna be a discussion worthy of a Spirited thread! Yer taking us back to the glory days, Lee.
Lee
Adventurer
The details are a bit unclear to me, but it appears to involve repeatedly using receipts to fraudulently return merchandise. And there's some battery in there, too. And trespassing. And probation violation...
The defense appears to involve a lack of "impulse control" or some such.
Lee
Adventurer
Yeah....this is what happens when I get time on my hands. And interesting emails.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Lee
Adventurer
But, the thing is...this discussion isn't just an attack on Hill, though it may seem that way.
It's an attack on Disney's policy, or lack thereof, of associating themselves too closely to the lifestyler/blogger brigade. Folks like Brigante, Mongello, Lange and many others. A group which I'm sure contains other people with questionable pasts. Is this the best they can do?
And it isn't just Disney. I know that Hill has close ties to some folks over in the Universal PR department, too.
I mean, how is it that someone can run so afoul of Disney in the past can now be used for a quote on the back of their Blu-Rays? (Was Leonard Maltin unavailable?). Is it a case of one arm of the company not knowing what another arm knows?
It's an attack on Disney's policy, or lack thereof, of associating themselves too closely to the lifestyler/blogger brigade. Folks like Brigante, Mongello, Lange and many others. A group which I'm sure contains other people with questionable pasts. Is this the best they can do?
And it isn't just Disney. I know that Hill has close ties to some folks over in the Universal PR department, too.
I mean, how is it that someone can run so afoul of Disney in the past can now be used for a quote on the back of their Blu-Rays? (Was Leonard Maltin unavailable?). Is it a case of one arm of the company not knowing what another arm knows?
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Spark70
Active Member
In my past I had a job that required I do background checks on volunteers - it is a very simple process and a negligible cost. Something of the scope that you described would have easily shown up on a report. How can a company with so many resources and a reputation, or "brand", that they value so highly not pay attention to something like this? Are the various groups so isolated from each other and operating in silos as @Lee suggests? Are they simply lazy? And, as Lee pointed out this is broader than just Disney - doesn't Huffington Post and other outlets publish his articles? A lot of questions and not a lot of answers.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Don't forget he has moderated panels at past D23 expos as well Lee.
But going back to Disney's choice to associate themeselves with the Mongellos, Brigantes, and Langes, they're basically giving these folks a seal of approval. Now that they have this 'we're good with Disney(PR)', it allows them to ingratiate themselves with other Disney related outlets like Touring Plans or top shelf media organizations like Huffington Post, as @Spark70 noted for Jim, and Fox News, for Ricky. These guys go to Disney and UNI events as credentialed media for those outlets. Why is someone like Jim, who is in the bag for his subject(s), covering them on top of the fact that has committed crimes against WDW?
Is this really worth the risk for Disney and the associated outlets?
Lee
Adventurer
Exactly.
SirNim
Well-Known Member
That's the million dollar question, and pursuing this line of questioning leads to certain possibilities: 1) the tentacles of the behemoth kraken not in coordination with each other (the "Whoops! We're inept" theory - just like the government), 2) the "Yes we know, but we believe that to forgive is divine" route (though the doling out of reputation and favors doesn't make sense in an industry as cutthroat and opportunistic as entertainment/theme parks, perhaps second only to politics, when these arrest records are publicly accessible and can call into question said company's judgment), and 3) the more sinister theory involving quid pro quo maneuvers and other such shenanigans bordering on the morally questionable at best (which nobody is suggesting here).
At the end of the day, everybody knows that what has been created here is an independent contractor class of spoiled pseudo-PR spinmasters - not very different from the folks signed to Maker Studios to hawk General Grievous die-cast action figures and Iron Man video games - who are on the dole, but not on the roll, and thus can get fat on the corporate teat having bypassed most normal ground rules of PR. It's a long-term gig in a gig economy, and it's just very strange... the optics are very strange... that this relationship between the two parties has continued to persist despite what would otherwise be a disqualifying set of public records.
brb1006
Well-Known Member
Wait when did that happen?
brb1006
Well-Known Member
What's going on?
FigmentForver96
Well-Known Member
And the thread is back and ladies and gentlemen!
My thing is why would Disney be so keen on keeping him around for promoting and other events if he has such a past? I wonder if this goes deeper and if so how deep?
My thing is why would Disney be so keen on keeping him around for promoting and other events if he has such a past? I wonder if this goes deeper and if so how deep?
alissafalco
Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Quick question… Just playing devils advocate it so that we don't tar and feather an innocent person by mistake…
Are we 100% sure that that is the exact same person as the Jim Hill that does the podcasts? It's a very common name, I had aJames Hill as a teacher when I was in middle school.
Now I'm not here to debate what crimes are in public record… I just want to make sure that we are 100% positive that we are discussing Jim Hill as opposed to some other James Hill....
And for those who are curious, to access these records all you have to do is go up to the clerk of the courts office on the second floor of the orange county courthouse and you can hop on the computer there an access them.
