LOS ANGELES — Former BP comms leader Geoff Morrell, who left the oil giant last year for a short stint at Disney, has joined Teneo as president of global strategy and communications.

In the newly created position, Morrell will serve as an advisor to Teneo’s clients while also furthering the expansion of the firm’s global offerings and business.

“Good riddance, 2022. Hello '23!” Morrell wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing the move. “After a crazy first half of last year — farewell to bp, move to LA, and brief tour at Disney — I spent the second half thinking about what to do next.

“I was blessed to have some great corporate opportunities to consider, but the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that I needed a new challenge — something unlike any of my past roles,” he wrote.

Morrell said he was most attracted to Teneo’s “distinctive integrated service offer” that includes management consulting, risk advisory, executive recruiting and more in addition to strategy and communications.

“That is hugely helpful because it seems more and more these days that reputational challenges actually stem from some deeper seeded problem in the business. The ability to help diagnose that and deliver solutions is what sets Teneo apart and has me excited to join the firm,” he said.

Morrell’s move to Teneo comes a year after he joined Disney to serve as the entertainment giant’s chief corporate affairs officer only to leave four months later, saying the position was “not the right fit.” He led communications for BP, where he spent more than a decade, before that.

Morrell’s tenure at Disney coincided with the company’s high-profile conflict with Florida Governor Ron De Santis over the state’s attack on gay and trans rights.

Having provided financial support to De Santis and other proponents of the state’s “don’t say gay” bill, which restricts discussion in Florida schools, Disney then-chief executive Bob Chapek initially indicated tacit approval of the bill, telling employees in a memo that the company would not issue a statement because "they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame."

But the company eventually recognized the importance of “standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country” and indicated that it would work for the law’s repeal, or its defeat in the courts, triggering an angry response from the state.
It is not clear what role the Florida controversy played in Morrell’s decision to leave the company.