Former Disney CEO Bob Iger took a thinly-veiled shot as his successor, Bob Chapek, in an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace discussing Florida’s newly-signed “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Although Disney has since pledged to fight for the bill to be repealed, that’s not the tune Chapek was originally singing, and the company has since been doing some heavy damage control. In any case, Iger’s logic for condemning the bill makes it clear that there’s still no love lost between the former and current Disney CEOs.
When asked by Matthews his thoughts about Disney weighing in on matters of “extreme public interest and concern,” Iger responded that he “considers a few factors” to determine whether Disney should take a side.
“What would its impact have on our employees, our shareholders, and our customers?” Iger asked. “And if any one of those three constituencies had a deep interest in or would be affected by whatever the matter was at hand, then it was something that I thought we should consider weighing in on.”
Iger continued, saying that he doesn’t think of these types of issues as necessarily being political, but as the difference between right and wrong.
“To me, it wasn’t about politics. It is about what is right and what is wrong. And that just seemed wrong. It seemed potentially harmful to kids,” Iger explained. “When you’re dealing with right and wrong or when you’re dealing with something that does have a profound impact on your business, I just think you have to do what is right and not worry about the potential backlash to it.”
Later in the studio, Wallace discussed the interview, which he said had been prerecorded a couple of weeks prior, before Disney pulled a 180 on the issue. Still, he noted that there was some undeniable subtext to Iger’s remarks.
“Although he didn’t directly contradict or criticize Chapek, it was pretty obvious that when he said ‘sometimes it’s just a matter of right and wrong,’ that Iger was kind of distinguishing himself from his successor,” Wallace observed. “And saying sometimes you don’t worry about the business, and you don’t worry about how it’s going to affect you, you just have to take a stand.”
“So that’s interesting, and there’s been so much pressure from inside the company on Chapek that he’s now ended up, probably a little bit too late, coming out and condemning the bill,” he added.
Although it took Chapek until March 9 to finally issue a lukewarm condemnation of the Florida bill, Iger made his thoughts known weeks earlier.
“I’m with the President on this!” Iger wrote on Feb 24, 2022, retweeting President Biden. “If passed, this bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.”
