Victoria Alonso wins 'multimillion dollar payout' from Disney after being fired in March

A fired Marvel executive has won a settlement worth millions of dollars from Disney after she was abruptly fired in March due to her role in producing and promoting the Oscar-nominated movie Argentina, 1985, which was made by the rival Amazon Studios. 

Producer Victoria Alonso worked for Marvel since 2005, helping to make the brand into one of the most lucrative in Hollywood. 

The official line from Disney was that Alonso, 57, breached her contract with the company in working on an Amazon project. 

However, her lawyer maintains that Alonso was fired rather for her refusal to remove a pro-LGBTQ image from January's Marvel hit Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania for the film's release in Kuwait, where homosexuality is illegal. The film grossed nearly $500 million worldwide against a budget of $200 million. 

Her lawyer, Patty Glaser, said Alonso was asked 'to do something she believed was reprehensible. Victoria, a gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney, was silenced.' In April 2022, Alonso was openly critical of then-CEO Bob Chapek's non-response to Florida's controversial 'Don't Say Gay' bill. 

'I ask you again Mr Chapek, please respect if we’re selling family, take a stand against all of these crazy outdated laws. Take a stand for the family,' Alonso said during an appearance at the 2022 GLAAD Media Awards. 

In March, Victoria Alonso, 57, has departed Marvel Studios after a 17-year run with the film studio in which the Marvel Cinematic Universe became the highest-grossing movie franchise ever. Pictured at the Oscars in LA earlier this month

Alonso, a native of Buenos Aires, produced the Oscar-nominated hit Argentina, 1985. The film was made by Amazon Studios, a rival to Disney

In late 2022, Chapek was abruptly replaced as CEO by the man he replaced in the role, Bob Iger with many pointing to the company's response to the Florida law as one of the reasons for the shuffle.  

The change was made to the Ant-Man movie by an outsourced editor. 

Deadline, who first reported the news of the settlement, said that the exact figure has not been revealed. 

During her time at Marvel, Alonso worked as a producer on hits such as Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and as an executive producer on The Avengers in 2012. 

In 2021, Alonso was promoted to president of physical and post production, visual effects and animation production at Marvel Studios.  

Glaser also said that Alonso was given a green-light work on Argentina, 1985, the movie that deals with the prosecution of the generals who engineered the country's brutal military takeover in 1976. She is a native of Buenos Aires. 

In response to Glaser, a Disney statement reading part that it was 'unfortunate' the producer was 'sharing a narrative that leaves out several key factors concerning her departure, including an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy.'

'We will continue to wish her the best for the future and thank her for her numerous contributions to the studio,' the House of Mouse press release added.  

Marvel executive reportedly asked in January, just weeks before the February 17 release of the Ant-Man sequel, to blur a storefront window that featured a rainbow decoration and the word Pride.

Marvel executives asked in January, just weeks before the February 17 release, to blur a storefront window that featured a rainbow decoration and the word Pride, for the Kuwait release, since the country has restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws

A storefront baring the word PRIDE is reportedly shown in two brief scenes where Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) was seen walking down a street in San Francisco

In April 2022, Alonso was highly critical of Disney's response to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' controversial Don't Say Gay bill

In January 2023, Alonso was one of the subjects of a Vulture feature on the stressful working conditions that visual effects artists suffered through at Marvel. 

An unnamed artist alleged that Alonso was known to blacklist workers who crossed her.

'The main one that everyone’s quite scared of is Victoria Alonso. She is known in the industry as a kingmaker. If she likes you, you are going to get work and move up in the industry. If you have pissed her off in any way, you’re going to get frozen out,' he said. 

The storefront is reportedly shown in two brief scenes where Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) was seen walking down a street in San Francisco.

Sources allege that, once the request made it to Alonso - who was in charge of overseeing all visual effects and post-production - she refused to have her team make the edit. 

Other Kuwait edits included removing references to alcohol and removing the animated butt cheeks of M.O.D.O.K. (Corey Stoll).

This wasn't the first time Marvel cut an LGBTQ scene to appease the Kuwait market, happening just months earlier with a scene in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Marvel cut a very brief scene that features a 10-second scene that features a moment of affection between Michaela Coel's Aneka and Florence Kasumba's Ayo.

The brief scene featured Aneka kissing the forehead of Ayo, with censors also demanding another scene cut where a woman gives birth to a child, where the line, 'A god to his people,' is said.

There was said to be a total of 1 minute worth of cuts made to appease the Kuwait censors for the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Kuwait censors even demanded that a heterosexual kiss between T'challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) be removed, while another heterosexual kiss in Encanto was removed for Kuwait.