What a week it’s been for Disney. From celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Disney Channel to landing 42 Emmy nominations at Hulu (or 64 depending on who you ask) to the one and only Bob Iger seemingly falling on the wrong side of the SAG-AFTRA debate — you can’t say it hasn’t been an eventful one.
The fallout over Iger’s words has not lost its sting for some Disney alumni, including a Marvel veteran who was seemingly told nearly a decade of his life’s work was not anything “significant,” to the sister of a Star Wars legend calling him out on his cow turd — except that’s not the exact word she used, if you catch our drift.
Then there’s the live-action Snow White photos that lit the internet on fire today. We mean that literally (sort of): It’s not every day Disney comes out and comments on the viral happenings of the internet.
Carrie Fisher’s sister calls out Bob Iger for hogging the proverbial pie
Joely Fisher, Carrie Fisher’s half-sister, had more than a few terse words to toss at Bob Iger after the CEO called the SAG-AFTRA strike “disturbing,” “disruptive,” “unrealistic,” and a “shame” in his sit-down interview with CNBC’s David Faber. Fisher, who is the former president of SAG-AFTRA and current national secretary and treasurer, has been a staunch supporter of performers’ rights for years. “They are profiting on our backs,” she said in an interview with CNN. “And if we want a tiny little sliver of that ongoing, it is not unreasonable. It is not.” Just in case she hadn’t made her point clear, Fisher spoke directly to Iger when saying “It’s bulls***,” then added with a laugh, “I’ll never work again.”
Around the same time as Fisher’s comments, Disney star JB Tadena from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Raya of the Last Dragon also came out in response to Iger’s comments, but instead of calling him or his opinions cow turd, he simply shared one of his residual checks; it isn’t even enough to even buy a piece of gum, in case you were wondering.
When a Marvel icon simply says “Bro…” you know you’ve messed up
One of the biggest headline-making comments Bob Iger said in his sit-down interview with CNBC’s David Faber was that Marvel’s focus on Disney Plus content “diluted focus and attention” among audiences, i.e. the company has favored quantity over quality. But that’s not what struck a chord with actor Clark Gregg, known by many in the Marvel universe as Phil Coulson, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury’s right-hand man. What surely left a sour taste in Gregg’s mouth was the fact that Iger called his near-decade of work on ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D insignificant, resulting in him saying “Bro…” in a Twitter post. Of course, when watching Iger’s interview it’s clear the CEO hadn’t directly said that, but burns sting the most when they come at you indirectly.
Set photos of the live-action Snow White spark conservative backlash, causing Disney to issue a statement… and then retract it
If you were on Twitter at all this morning you probably noticed “Snow White” at the top of the trending pile. Alleged set photos depicting “dwarves” of varying genders, heights, and skin colors sparked an immediate backlash from conservative fans of the OG animated movie. The Daily Mail reported that the photos included “stand-in extras,” however, shortly thereafter the Daily Beast issued a statement on behalf of Disney rebuking the entire thing as nonsense, calling the photos “fake” and “not from our production.” However, shortly after the U.S. spokesperson for Disney erroneously referred to the photos as “fake,” the studio came back and clarified that they are legitimately from the production, just not “official.”
Firstly, R.I.P. to that spokesperson’s job. Secondly, does that mean the seven “dwarves” are really as diverse as they appear in the set photos, or are they truly just stand-ins? There’s no way to know for certain right now, but either way, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be backlash in some shape or form. This is, after all, a reboot of Disney’s most beloved animated classic of all time, and reactions to reboots have hardly ever been positive.