Disney CEO Bob Iger: “We Must Once Again Renounce and Reject Hate in All Forms”

John F. Trent |

Apr 11, 2019

Disney CEO Bob Iger called for the rejection of hate while attending the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance tribute dinner.

Deadline reports Iger, who received the 2019 Humanitarian Award addressed the audience where he declared, “We must demand more from our government officials.” He would go on to add, “I want to hear a pitch that isn’t grounded in the contempt of others.”

Iger would also state, “We must once again renounce and reject hate in all forms.” He added, “Each one of us has the obligation to be part of the solution.” Iger would also note, “Hitler would have loved social media.” Deadline indicates Iger called out both Democrats and Republicans and warned against the disappearance of civility hinting about a transformation of the “common ground of democracy into scored earth.”

While Iger never mentioned President Donald Trump by name, Deadline indicates it was “clearly implied” as he discussed the “legacy of the Holocaust and the vile scourge of discrimination and rising anti-Semitism.”

Former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg did indicate that Iger would not be running for the President, “Bob gives as a friend, whenever I asked he gave — except one time. No matter how much I begged Bob, he just wasn’t willing to run for President of the United States. Our loss.”

Iger would respond, “He promised me he would never bring that up again, particularly with my wife in the room. Not politically correct.”

Iger addressed a who’s who of Hollywood elites at the tribute dinner including Katzenberg, Disney Studios head Alan Horn, NBCUniversal’s Ron Meyer, Paramount’s Jim Gianopulos, director Ron Howard, Disney’s largest shareholder Rupert Murdoch, William Morris Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel, Senator Diane Feinstein, CBS CEO Joe Ianniello, Star Wars boss Kathleen Kennedy, UTA’s Jeremy Zimmer, and Jimmy Kimmel, who MC’d the event.

Deadline reports a ticket to the event cost anywhere from $1,500 to $250,000.

As we’ve reported in the past Disney employs or at least pays a number of people who have made extremely hateful comments and have openly insulted Disney’s customers. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson notably called Star Wars fans who did not like The Last Jedi, “manbabies.”

Marvel Comics freelance writer Gail Simone recently attacked Chick-fil-A and called for a boycott against the entire company.

Disney’s The Lion King voice actor Billy Eichner recently called for “Trump and all MAGA lunatics to burn in Hell.”

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast producer Jack Morrissey wished the Covington Catholic High School teens would be shoved into a woodchipper head first.

Marvel TV actor Vincent D’Onofrio declared that if you wear a MAGA hat you cannot be trusted.

And that’s just a handful of some of the actors, producers, directors, and comic book creators who’ve espoused “hate” that Disney employs or contracts with.

What do you make of Iger’s comments? Do you think he will live up to his words and hold people responsible who are employed by Disney?