Rashida Jones and writing partner Will McCormack dropped out of their positions as co-writers of Toy Story 4 , citing a culture at Pixar that marginalises women and people of colour.

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As reported by EW , the co-writers released a statement saying that "we parted ways because of creative and, more importantly, philosophical differences. There is so much talent at Pixar, and we remain enormous fans of their films. However, it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice.”The duo points out that only one of Pixar's 20 films have been directed by a woman, and another by a person of colour. The statement adds that "we hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered.”Jones and McCormack also refuted rumors that their leaving followed "an unwanted advance" to Jones from ex-director John Lasseter. Lasseter has recently begun a six-month leave of absence from Pixar after similar issues at the studio.Jones and McCormack joined the project in 2014 , and have been writing the film as a romantic comedy that doesn't continue directly from the original trilogy It's unclear if the duo's departure will significantly alter the film's storyline, although that seems unlikely at this stage in production.Toy Story 4 is currently scheduled for release on June 21, 2019, having swapped release dates with The Incredibles 2

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and