SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Suggests The Walt Disney Company Lock Bob Iger “Behind Doors”
John F. Trent
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SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher blasted The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and even suggested the company should have him locked behind doors.
Fran Drescher speaking with attendees at the 2018 Arizona Ultimate Women’s Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Drescher’s comments were a reaction to Bob Iger’s recent comments made during a CNBC interview form the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho. When asked about both the writers and actors strike, Iger said, “Well, I think it’s very disturbing to me. I, you know, we’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges that we’re facing and the recovery from Covid, which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption.”
He continued, “I understand any labor organizations’ desire to work on the behalf behalf of its members to get, you know, the most compensation and to be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver.”
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger via CNBC
Iger then pointed to the negotiations with the Directors Guild, “We managed as an industry to negotiate a very good deal with the Directors Guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors.”
However, he shared his belief that both the writers and actors are being unrealistic in their demands, “There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic and they are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 28: (L-R) The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, Showrunner/Executive Producer Jon Favreau, Pedro Pascal and Alan Bergman, Chairman of Disney Studios Content attends the Mandalorian special launch event at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
When asked to clarify his comments about why they are being unrealistic, Iger said, ” I can’t, I can’t answer that question. I, again, I respect their right and their desire to get as much as they possibly can in compensation for their people, you know, I completely respect that. I’ve been around long enough to understand that dynamic and to appreciate it.”
“But you also have to be realistic about the business environment and what this business can deliver,” Iger added. “It is and has been a great business for all of these people and it will continue to be even through disruptive times. But, you know, being realistic, is imperative here.”
Robert A. Iger, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board, at The Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day 2020.
He then shared his thoughts that the strikes “will have a very, very damaging effect on the whole business.”
“There’s huge collateral damage in the industry to people who are, you know, who are support services. I can go on and on,” he continued. ” It will affect the economy of, you know, different regions even because of the sheer size of the business. It’s a shame. It is really a shame.”
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 13: (L-R) Disney CEO Bob Iger, Executive Producer Kathleen Kennedy and Executive Producer Jon Favreau arrive at the premiere of Lucasfilm’s first-ever, live-action series, “The Mandalorian,” at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. on November 13, 2019. “The Mandalorian” streams exclusively on Disney+. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Responding to these comments, Drescher told Variety, “I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf. I don’t think it served him well.”
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher slams Bob Iger’s “repugnant” strike remarks: “If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this, because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening.” https://t.co/UacRrD06I4 pic.twitter.com/B7PpBMPAJn
— Variety (@Variety) July 14, 2023
She didn’t stop there. Drescher continued, “If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary that he’s making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re like land barons of a medieval time.”
Fran Drescher speaking with attendees at the 2018 Arizona Ultimate Women’s Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
What do you make of Drescher calling out Bob Iger over his strike comments?
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