Since returning in 2022, Disney CEO Bob Iger has paid a lot of lip service in regards to addressing and righting what ails the Walt Disney Company.
His company’s actions and blame-deflection have tarnished the once-sterling Disney brand.
Despite that, Iger insists that things will be okay and that they will fix everything — but can you blame anyone for being a bit dubious?
The latest example of these empty Disney promises came during something of a victory lap for Iger after he successfully fended off outside investors seeking a seat on Disney’s board of directors.
The ugly proxy battle was settled on April 3, when Iger gained enough shareholder support to fend off deep-pocketed entities like Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital.
Trian’s Nelson Peltz has been a particularly vocal critic of Iger, and the newly solidified Disney CEO made sure to take a shot at him during a wide-ranging victory lap of interview with CNBC on Thursday.
After denying that there was any personal animosity on Iger’s behalf, the Disney CEO noted that Peltz “didn’t bring any new ideas and he wasn’t going to have an impact.”
Iger further lambasted the proxy battle and Peltz’s presence as a “distraction.”
Do you think Disney can ever turn things around?
The 73-year-old CEO also found some time to take a jab at tech mogul (and also a vocal critic, which Iger appears to have quite a few of) Elon Musk.
Iger ripped Musk, who has been hyper-critical of both he and Disney, as being of “no relevance,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
But while those sorts of remarks are to be expected from any victor, Iger — perhaps seeing his occupational mortality flash before his eyes — also seemed to decry the very thing his company has become rather well-known for: social justice messaging.
“I’ve been preaching this for a long time at the company before I left and since I came back then our number one goal is to entertain,” Iger said elsewhere in the interview, per THR. “The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we’re up to.
“They need to be entertaining, and where the Disney company can have a positive impact on the world whether it’s you know, fostering acceptance and understanding of people of all different types, great.
“But generally speaking, we need to be an entertainment first company.”
(And yes, Iger hemmed and hawed about needing to reach a diverse audience still yet.)
Again, the idea that Disney is putting its entertainment foot forward first is a wonderful sentiment.
But actions speak far louder than words, and thus far, any Disney doubt is well-earned in 2024.
The company is a cesspool of far-left ideologues that appear both unable and unwilling to change its ways — at least based on the company’s most recent offerings.
But — and this is a ginormous qualifier — if Iger were to somehow get Disney to shuffle more towards entertainment and less towards activism, it would be rather difficult not to see the man taking another, more vocal victory lap.
