Disappointed

[take36]

Superiors having relationships with subordinates is blatantly inappropriate. That ain’t a “red flag;” that’s right in front of you. It’s taken to another level entirely with the age dynamic of 20+ years AND an/the owner?! And sharing hotel rooms for work trips?? Good grief, people.

Sean was an equal as he was a business partner (50-50 at that) with Pete on MTO. It also not unheard for a (small) business to hire friends and family for a variety of reason, nepotism is found just about anywhere.

Dustin mentioned he was given his own stateroom for appearances so unless Craig followed Dustin back to his stateroom every night, what is it to him where Dustin does on a cruise? Also sharing hotel rooms for work trips is quite common as it saves the company money.

Dustin is an employee but from the Dis live/video show perspective, he was it's founder (if anyone had any doubts, in the farewell show Pete said the studio will be forever the house that Dustin built and everything that came after that was because of Dustin’s work). Pete talked fondly of Dustin and Dustin was super good at his job and was trusted so Craig could have thought Pete while the owner is the "first amongst equal" when it came to launching this endeavor and Dustin is pretty much at Pete's level when it came to control of the channel. Dustin mentioned they hid the relationship at first but when it did come out, Craig could chalk that up to Craig was the new guy so Pete and Dustin might not trust him enough yet with all the details.

Yes dating within the organization is bad HR practice and yes there must have been hints of something darker in Sean and Dustin's relationship with Pete but Craig does not have a background in HR and he is certainly isn't a psychologist/social worker/doctor that would be expected to pick up on something the parties in question never mentioned and actively hid.

I single out Craig (and I’m sorry Craig) but it’s pretty much ditto for all the other employees that we might accuse of not speaking up. To top it off Dustin, Ryno, and Craig consider each other friends so if Dustin never told them as close as they (thought they) were and Pete affirms Dustin is de facto the top dog, how are they to accuse their “superiors” of hurting each other? Ryno expressed regret that Dustin never confided in him all those years. Sean said he kept his distance with the “employees” for a variety of (selfless) reasons.

Any reasonable person will assume conflict between two owners is none of the employees business (unless actively told otherwise) and not jump straight to SA.

 

[ainswokp]

I'm just seeing all of this now. Where can I go to get the full story? I started reading from the begining but it is just getting more confusing and it would be nice to know what is actually going on.
Thanks.

Pm me

 

[nfreeman]

I’m sure they’re working on it but because no broadcast type announcement has been made on FB, the homepage, etc., many people even on these boards are likely still unaware. You can see people trickling into this thread and still trying to figure out what’s going on.

Yes. I’m sure they delay has to do with needing to consult their attorneys. I just hope the travel agents aren’t impacted because they likely had no idea what was going.

 

[jecarnl]

You just said a word today! That's how I've been feeling. Everything that has to do with Disney is turning sour including my beloved theme parks. And now this.

Same here.

 

[ainswokp]

A minor part but nonetheless a part of this story is the history of censorship on these boards. There is discussion on other sites about some people who genuinely cared about and contributed their free time to moderate here and were banned for going against the hierarchy, like rteetz, skierpete, etc. a lot of great content was lost over the years because of how far Pete’s reach went. Good to see so far there has been some adjustment already. Hopefully that continues.

 

[davish562]

What happened with rteetz?

 

[dreamer17555]

Yes. I’m sure they delay has to do with needing to consult their attorneys. I just hope the travel agents aren’t impacted because they likely had no idea what was going.

I’m wondering how this cannot affect their travel agents for those of us who do not want to support Pete’s actions?

I love my Dreams agent. She’s wonderful. I have three Disney cruises currently booked with her all 7+ nights (Sept, Nov, Feb). I am keeping them all with her because she has done the work and deserves to be paid, but I don’t feel comfortable continuing to use her moving forward if some of that money is going towards Pete. And it’s going to take some time to sort out everything Dreams is going through financially and legally.

I want to support my agent. But I do not want to support Pete. It’s a hard place to be in.

 

[ainswokp]

What happened with rteetz?

He was banned among other people. Happened during COVID.

 

[Stank]

Sean was an equal as he was a business partner (50-50 at that) with Pete on MTO.

Odd you omit the 2 or 3 years before MTO. And to equate an employee who stayed an employee who left as an employee, as a “founder,” ugh…

Not to mention there were several others who followed this same “abnormal” employer/employee dynamic.

When they dismiss it as it’s not their place to say who can have a relationship with someone else….head-in-sand when it’s the Nth subordinate dating the owner.

 

[hiroMYhero]

What happened with rteetz?

He resigned his Mod position and was subsequently banned.

 

[ainswokp]

There are definite Maoist tendencies permeating throughout society as a whole to say the least. The saturation of coerced public apologies + mob-like cancel culture + banning/blocking someone who you mildly disagree with, essentially unpersoning them from your digital awareness of them ever again.

People have just rolled into this mindset and aren’t even aware of it. It’s to the detriment of themselves creating a sanitized la-la land to interact with.

Dogpile/virtual signal/censor, these are all unhealthy normalizations people embrace. And they fall over themselves to compete in insisting they’re the most open minded and accepting in the Virtue Signaling Olympics.

I’m not smart enough to understand that, but I appreciate it.

 

[Tonyz]

I do not have a story like Dustin's, nor do I believe anyone else on our team does

I’m sorry, I don’t mean to harp on ya, Craig. I appreciate your comments - but this line has stuck with me for a couple hours.

First one all… we KNOW that someone else has a story like Dustin’s. We know Sean went through a very similar thing.

Second… if you claim you didn’t know about Dustin’s story, how can you say whether or not anyone else has/had a similar story?

I’m not trying to be a jerk. Just want to try and make as much sense as all of this as possible.

 

[BluEye]

I am not at all surprised to hear that Pete was a terrible person to work for. Just based on how he would talk to and treat his employees on air told me that he had to be even worse behind the scenes. And I have to admit that his penchant for hiring young guys that he was in a relationship with was a red flag also. However, I never for a minute would have thought that he was actually committing any kind of assault. So I can see where the team would be blindsided by that. It’s one thing to be an abusive boss, but it’s quite another to be committing SA.

It seems like Dustin was so invested in his job at the Dis. He hung out with the team and volunteered at events before he was hired. He even said in a vlog that he always hoped to work there. He must have worked very hard for the company.
I remember an episode where it was said Pete and Dustin shared a room and I felt the cringe. So it’s hard for me to believe that no one on the team suspected or knew anything. Ryno’s live came up in my feed last night, I was confused until some in the comments wrote the word Dustin. My first thought was oh no no no and I just knew. Someone posted a link to another site with the story.
It’s so horrible and evil if his boss manipulated his feelings and used his dream job as leverage for his own pleasures. And then after he leaves the company continues to hire young attractive guys some with a troubled past and no experience who experienced similar advances on away trips.
A lot of damage has been done. I bet the officers of DU just want Pete out. Settle the Amex and go away. Problem for the Dis is a lot of people watched because of Pete. So what is that worth?

 

[take36]

Odd you omit the 2 or 3 years before MTO. And to equate an employee who stayed an employee who left as an employee, as a “founder,” ugh…

Not to mention there were several others who followed this same “abnormal” employer/employee dynamic.

When they dismiss it as it’s not their place to say who can have a relationship with someone else….head-in-sand when it’s the Nth subordinate dating the owner.

Yet you dismiss Dustin and Sean (and Craig and Ryno) direct statements that they did not know. It easy in retrospect to look at all the testimonies and facts/"facts" that have come out to see what transpired but in the moment how is Craig and Ryno to know what happened with Dustin and would happen with Sean?

I am not saying that the Dustin/Pete relationship was not inappropriate in terms of superior/employee, but that unless Craig demanded to see the organization chart and had counseling on where Dustin landed in company, it is not unreasonable to assume Dustin is important and talented enough to be on Pete's level, especially at the farewell segment, Pete affirmed Dustin's importance. Maybe you are a supervisor and have training in these kind of dynamics but you expect Ryno and Craig in an already toxic and high demand environment to question what both Dustin and Pete told them?

I do agree with you that we cannot have this "its not my problem" attitude and it is possible and likely that others enabled, agreed with, and/or had knowledge of SA at the workplace (and I do have my own suspicions of who) but the "evidence" we have is Dustin and Sean telling us Craig and Ryno did not know. Now if someone else steps up and accuses them or even Pete decides to throw Craig under the bus with a statement then that changes things.

I omitted the pre MTO time because Sean said himself his situation with Pete was complicated and constantly changing with his status within the hierarchy seemingly in flux even within the day/hour. But the facts are he was an co owner with Pete on MTO (legally) and an employee of DU (I believe they are all paid with DU checks) which by itself is muddled (and lets add the rate R/XXX job Sean had previously and those transactions with Pete) and you can see where Craig will be unsure what exactly is going on and what to do even if had suspicions.

Maybe I am not giving Craig not enough credit or you giving Craig too much credit for knowing (not knowing) and acting (or not acting) upon what he experienced.

Craig has been shown to be a good guy on the show, in person, by Dustin and Sean's own words and even the unknown ex dis employees and friends of those on the show from the other board (they are actually critical of his work and make fun of him constantly) that I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I've also ran through a scenario in a previous post that assume Craig outright knew or had high suspicion of what was happening with Dustin. Without Dustin's testimony who could he tell that would believe him, should he quit on a hunch when even Dustin, a good friend never mentioned anything about SA? Maybe he should've confronted Dustin and/or Pete, told John (or I guess Donna), or even filed a police report? In retrospect I am sure Craig would've done one or all of those but again, Dustin never confided in anyone and what Craig did (didn't do) is reasonable given what we have read.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I remember an episode where it was said Pete and Dustin shared a room and I felt the cringe.

Setting any cringiness aside, and not validating any of the allegations (I wasn't there), I just find it hard to believe that anyone in Werner's circle would simply look past the sharing of a hotel room or cruise cabin as being purely a platonic or cost-cutting measure, particularly with a subordinate.

Werner's whole schtick is flamboyance and (borderline) ostentatious displays of everything he considers to be a projection of wealth and success. There's zero chance he'd say "Hey, let's all double-up and share rooms to save some cash. I'll go first" (as someone upthread has suggested). If you read through the histories, Werner was always staying in the best suites and cabins on every trip. Having a platonic subordinate sharing a room to save a few bucks is ludicrous. He's more "You two share the bunk beds in that interior cabin, while I have the Concierge Royal Suite that sleeps 7 all to myself". Peasants'.

 

[Stank]

Yet you dismiss Dustin and Sean (and Craig and Ryno) direct statements that they did not know.

I’m not making that point.

It was apparent the boss was dating multiple employees/subordinates, and staying with them in the same room on work trips. The number of these relationships compounds it.

Who knew what when is down to he said/he said. That’s something unknown that everyone else wants to know. I’m focusing on what is known—that the boss was involved with multiple people under him many years his junior. And everyone was fine with it.

If we took that situation and applied it to a hypothetical business/boss/worker, I doubt anyone here would be contorting themselves into explaining it away. It’s amazing how people suspend “judgment” when it’s their eggs getting scrambled.

Easier/more convenient to put head-in-sand, as I said.

 

[Allison]

He resigned his Mod position and was subsequently banned.

And Pete sent an email to Ryan who was 18 or so at the time that displayed horrendous behavior. I saw it discussed online. He absolutely berated the kid.

Pete's behavior has been discussed online for years and years.

 

[take36]

You two share the bunk beds in that interior cabin, while I have the Concierge Royal Suite that sleeps 7 all to myself". Peasants'.

Doesn't he actually do that!? The DCL videos have Craig and Ryno referencing their regular room vs Pete's concierge/roy disney's room.

I do agree/suspect there are those that enabled, overlooked, and/or condoned his behavior though.

 

[AdventurersClub]

I’m not making that point.

It was apparent the boss was dating multiple employees/subordinates, and staying with them in the same room on work trips. The number of these relationships compounds it.

Who knew what when is down to he said/he said. That’s something unknown that everyone else wants to know. I’m focusing on what is known—that the boss was involved with multiple people under him many years his junior. And everyone was fine with it.

If we took that situation and applied it to a hypothetical business/boss/worker, I doubt anyone here would be contorting themselves into explaining it away. It’s amazing how people suspend “judgment” when it’s their eggs getting scrambled.

Easier/more convenient to put head-in-sand, as I said.

I don't think anyone would admit they knew anything prior to it becoming public. It would be a very bad look to imply anyone knew anything or suspected something like that was going on but decided to keep it quiet so not to risk their job and benefits. From a moral standpoint I would hope what people have said thus far is truthful. Time will tell.

 

[take36]

I’m not making that point.

It was apparent the boss was dating multiple employees/subordinates, and staying with them in the same room on work trips. The number of these relationships compounds it.

Who knew what when is down to he said/he said. That’s something unknown that everyone else wants to know. I’m focusing on what is known—that the boss was involved with multiple people under him many years his junior. And everyone was fine with it.

If we took that situation and applied it to a hypothetical business/boss/worker, I doubt anyone here would be contorting themselves into explaining it away. It’s amazing how people suspend “judgment” when it’s their eggs getting scrambled.

Easier/more convenient to put head-in-sand, as I said.

I get that its bad set up from a HR perspective. But there is no he said/he said. Dustin and Craig are saying the same thing unless you think they are not telling the truth? No one is disputing that except for you? We are outsiders and we have insiders telling us how it went down yet we still disagree with them? I guess if Pete or someone else chimes in and said Craig knew then we can be in a he said/he said situation.

I do not believe in my heart of hearts that Craig knew and decided that his annual pass and youtube fame was worth not standing up for a friend. I can be wrong but all the players that have spoken have said that was not the case.