Ovitz as a ‘Victim’

What is Mike Ovitz’s definition of the word “downfall”? After working the No. 2 job at Disney for 18 months, he left with a severance package valued at $129 million. That’s a downfall?

And if he insists on blaming his troubles on the “gay mafia” (“Ovitz: I’m ‘a Victim,’ ” by Dana Calvo, July 2), I hope he gets some satisfaction in knowing that he helped put this gay writer out of work. Because of the huge sum of money Disney paid Ovitz, in order to balance the books and show a profit, 4,000 Disney employees lost their jobs.

When I was told I was being downsized, I asked if I could get the Ovitz package. Then I realized I didn’t qualify for it because I actually worked for the 8 1/2 years I was there.

Though I’ve been sending out resumes like mad, I have been unemployed for a solid year, collecting my $230-a-week unemployment check and paying $420.40 a month for health insurance. Now, that’s a downfall.

KEN GILDIN

Los Angeles

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Throughout college and law school, I regarded Michael Ovitz’s successful Hollywood career as a role model for my own future. I used to track and admire all the newspaper, magazine and trade articles that discussed his acute business mind and his fierce protection of privacy.

But after reading the article about his claim of being a victim of the “gay mafia,” I am disheartened. Regardless of what role David Geffen and other gay execs may have played in Ovitz’s career nosedive, his ignorant comments are ridiculous.

OMAR A. SANDOVAL

Sun Valley