Geoff Morrell (spokesperson)

Early life and education

Morrell graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1987, then earned a bachelor's degree in 1991 from Georgetown University and a master's degree in journalism in 1992 from Columbia University.

Professional career

Morrell began his reporting career in 1992 at KATV-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, covering the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. He worked as a reporter at WSET-TV in Lynchburg/Roanoke in 1994; at KSAZ-TV in Phoenix in 1995; and at WBBM-TV in Chicago in 1996. While working as for WBBM-TV, Morrell played himself in the 1998 movie The Negotiator.

Morrell left WBBM-TV in early 2000 and joined ABC News, working in the network's Chicago and Washington, D.C., bureaus. He was an ABC White House television correspondent for four years. In 2007, Morrell resigned from ABC to be appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, where he served under two presidents. Morrell resigned upon Secretary Robert Gates' retirement in July 2011 and was replaced by George E. Little.

In September 2011, Morrell joined BP as a vice-president and the company's head of U.S. communications. Two years later, he became the company's senior vice president of U.S. communications and external affairs; he was in charge of government and media relations, internal communications, community affairs and philanthropy in the U.S.

In 2017, he moved to London to become head of group communications and external affairs, leading BP's global government media relations, internal communications, and community affairs. In 2020, Morrell was appointed Executive Vice President of Communications and Advocacy at BP.

In January 2022, Morrell left BP to oversee “communications, government relations, public policy, philanthropy and environmental issues” as Disney's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. During his tenure, Disney had become embroiled in a dispute with Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida laws regarding parental educational rights and teaching of gender identity: Florida had enacted a law requiring the termination of Disney's special self-governing tax and improvement district that governed 25,000 acres of Disney World. Morell resigned from Disney on April 29, 2022, saying that "for a number of reasons it is not the right fit" and that he would "pursue other opportunities". During his three-month stint at Disney, he was paid over $10 million.

References

References

1. Larkin, Ewan. (2023-01-04). "Disney, BP alum Geoff Morrell lands at Teneo". [[PRWeek]].
2. "BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2020".
3. Hickman, Arvind. (2 June 2020). "The PR Show: How comms is helping BP handle COVID-19 and fulfil its net zero ambition". [[PRWeek]].
4. "Geoff Morrell, BP PLC: Profile and Biography".
5. Morrell, Geoff. (June 27, 2011). "U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Transcript". U.S. Department of Defense.
6. "Geoff S. Morrell Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Pentagon Press Secretary". U.S. Department of Defense.
7. "NOTABLE ALUMNI". The Lawrenceville School.
8. Gizbert, Richard. (June 21, 2007). "London Calling: Geoff Morrell Makes It Official". Huffingtonpost.
9. Sneed, Michael. (July 31, 1998). "SNEED". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
10. link. (2013-07-31 , "On the Inside Looking Out" by Jamie McIntyre, February/March 2009)
11. Tau, Byron. (September 20, 2013). "BP ups Morrell, reorganizes PR/GR — Kinzel flies to Delta — Francis joins JDA frontline — AEA goes after Begich, Hagan on carbon taxes". [[Politico]].
12. (6 September 2013). "Morrell to lead merged BP comms, government affairs".
13. (6 June 2017). "Trump, furious and frustrated, gears up to punch back at Comey testimony". [[The Washington Post]].
14. (2017). "Executive Profile Geoff Morrell". Bloomberg.
15. Czarnecki, Sean. (18 May 2017). "BP promotes Geoff Morrell to group head of comms, external affairs". [[PR Week]].
16. (3 January 2022). "10 Los Angeles business people to watch in 2022". The Business Journals.
17. (7 December 2021). "Disney hires Geoff Morrell, a BP executive, as its corporate affairs chief.". The New York Times.
18. (7 December 2021). "Disney to Tap BP Exec and Former ABC News Correspondent Geoff Morrell as PR Chief (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
19. (7 December 2021). "Disney names former Pentagon press secretary to newly created job". Axios.
20. Call, James. (2022-04-22). "It's law: In just days, Ron DeSantis dismantles Disney's special tax district operating since 1967". Florida Today (USA Today Network/Tallahassee Democrat).
21. Barnes, Brooks. (2022-04-29). "Disney's top communications executive is out after less than four months.". The New York Times.
22. "Disney exec paid equivalent of $3.4 million a month for brief 3-month stint".