Disney Names Netflix Alum Emily Feingold EVP of Communications

The Walt Disney Company named former Netflix communications executive Emily Feingold executive vice president of communications, effective Nov. 9, 2026, succeeding David Jefferson, who accepted Disney's voluntary early retirement offer after 15 years. Feingold will report to Chief Communications Officer Paul Roeder and oversee media relations, enterprise editorial, and executive, brand, financial and technology communications.

Nov 06, 2026 - 14:21

0 5

The Walt Disney Company has named Emily Feingold executive vice president of communications, succeeding David Jefferson, who accepted the company's voluntary early retirement offer after 15 years, according to reports published Nov. 6, 2026, by Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire. Feingold starts Monday, Nov. 9, and will report to Paul Roeder, Disney's senior executive vice president and chief communications officer, the outlets reported. In the role, she will oversee media relations, enterprise editorial, and executive, brand, financial and technology communications, according to the companies' announcement as cited across those reports.

Jefferson will remain with Disney through the end of November to support the transition, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and IndieWire reported. Roeder became senior executive vice president and chief communications officer in March after Josh D'Amaro was named Disney's chief executive officer earlier this year, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Feingold's path from Netflix to Disney

Feingold left Netflix around June 2026 after nearly nine years with the streaming company, where she most recently served as vice president and head of communications for the U.S. and Canada, Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire reported. Her responsibilities at Netflix spanned corporate, financial, product and technology, advertising, content, marketing and consumer products communications, according to Deadline, TheWrap, and IndieWire.

Outlets described her work advising Netflix senior leadership through major company moments. Those included the streamer's chief executive succession, in which Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters succeeded co-founder Reed Hastings, IndieWire reported; expansion into advertising, gaming and live events, cited across Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire; reporting of viewership data and an embrace of theatrical releases, Deadline reported; and Netflix's pursuit of Warner Bros. Studios, including what IndieWire described as a failed bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Before Netflix, Feingold was senior vice president of corporate strategy and communications at Andell Inc., a private investment firm, and vice president of corporate communications at Ralph Lauren, according to Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire. She began her career at the White House; The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap reported that work came during the Clinton administration.

"Emily is one of the best in the business," Roeder said in a statement published by Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire. "She combines sharp instincts, broad experience and the trust and respect of colleagues and journalists alike. She's led communications through some of the most transformative moments in our industry, and she'll be a tremendous asset as we head into an exciting chapter for Disney."

Jefferson's Disney tenure and journalism background

Jefferson is a former journalist who spent roughly two decades reporting and editing for The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, Deadline and IndieWire reported. Variety provided a more detailed timeline of his Disney career: he first joined Walt Disney Parks and Resorts public relations in 2009, left at the end of 2010, returned in January 2013 in a corporate communications role, and was most recently elevated to executive vice president of corporate communications in March 2025. Variety also reported that Jefferson had a 14-year run at The Wall Street Journal, including as deputy Los Angeles bureau chief, and worked as a top editor at Newsweek for eight years, with a later stint at Newsweek and the Daily Beast after his 2010 departure from Disney.

"David has been a trusted voice and steady hand for Disney through some of the most consequential moments in our history," Roeder said in the same statement package, according to Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and IndieWire. "I've known him since his days as a reporter, and I'm deeply grateful for his counsel, his friendship and everything he's done for this company. I wish him every success in what comes next."

Voluntary retirement amid company cost-cutting

Jefferson accepted Disney's voluntary early retirement offer, or VERO, after 15 years with the company, the Nov. 6 reports said. TheWrap described the exit as part of a company-wide cost-cutting effort that has included multiple rounds of layoffs and buyouts. Deadline, in a Nov. 2, 2026, report by Anthony D'Alessandro and Nellie Andreeva, wrote that Disney was laying groundwork for further layoffs across multiple divisions, including TV networks and the motion picture studio, with some managers asked to target as much as 20% in annual cost savings, according to sources cited in that story.

That Deadline report said Disney had extended a Voluntary Early Retirement Offer to longtime executives in August, describing the VERO as a precursor to layoffs, and that the process had been completed. It also cited an August memo from Disney executive vice president and chief people officer Sonia Coleman stating that voluntary retirement was "one of several actions we're taking to reshape our organization, including involuntary staff reductions that have already begun in some areas and will continue into next year." Disney declined to comment on the latest cuts in that Nov. 2 report, Deadline said.

What Feingold will oversee

Across the Nov. 6 coverage, Feingold's Disney portfolio is described consistently: media relations; enterprise editorial; and executive, brand, financial and technology communications, reporting to Roeder. Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro, Variety's William Earl, The Hollywood Reporter's Alex Weprin, TheWrap's Drew Taylor, and IndieWire's Brent Lang all published matching accounts of the appointment, start date, reporting line, and Roeder's statements on Feingold and Jefferson. Feingold begins Monday, Nov. 9, 2026; Jefferson remains through the end of the month for the handoff, the outlets reported.