Report: The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger Wants To “Quiet The Noise” Regarding Culture War Issues Because They Are “Not Healthy” For Disney’s Business
John F. Trent
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A new report claims that The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger wants to “quiet the noise” surrounding culture war issues because he does not see them as healthy for the company’s business.
Josh Gad and Bob Iger attend the Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania World Premiere at the Regency Village Theatre on Monday, February 6, 2023 in Westwood, CA.
(Photo:Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
Needham financial analyst Laura Martin recently attended a 120-person investor event at Walt Disney World and reported on September 20th that during this event Bob Iger explicitly stated he wanted to “quiet the noise” on culture war issues.
In Martin’s report, which she provided to Bounding Into Comics, she explained that Iger believes “content should be entertaining, not issues-focused.”
Furthermore, she detailed that Iger’s “key goal is to ‘Quiet the Noise’ because culture wars are not healthy for [Disney’s] business.”
Bob Iger attends the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood CA on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
(Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
This report echoes comments Iger made to CNBC’s David Faber back in July. Faber asked the executive, “What about DeSantis who’s going to be on the hustings so to speak for the next year and he’s going, he’s made this a part of his campaign, attacking Disney, saying it’s a woke corporation. ‘We’ve put the company on a pedestal but they’ve really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the program line that I’m not willing to cross.’ I mean, that’s what he said. I quoted DeSantis there. How do you respond to that?”
Iger replied, “Well, so far what we’ve said publicly is that we are concerned that he has decided to retaliate against the company for a position the company took on pending legislation in that state. And frankly, the company was within its right, even though I’m not sure it was handled very well, it was within its right to speak up on an issue constitutionally protected right of free speech, and to retaliate against the company in a way that would be harmful to the business was not something that we could sit back and tolerate. And so, we have filed a lawsuit to protect our First Amendment rights there and to protect our business frankly.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger on media landscape: Challenges are greater than I had anticipated via CNBC, YouTube
He then added, “The other issues that you referenced, the last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be drawn into any culture wars. You know, we’ve operated for almost 100 years as a company making product that we actually are proud of in terms of its impact on the world. I joke every once in a while we’re there to manufacture fun—”
Iger would later add, “I don’t really want to engage in the specifics except to say that it’s it’s not our goal to be involved in a culture war. Our goal is to continue to tell wonderful stories and have a positive, positive impact on the world. You know, we are a preeminent entertainer in the world. And we’re proud of our track record there. The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children quite frankly is preposterous and inaccurate.”
Kevin Feige, Alan Bergman and Bob Iger attend the Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania World Premiere at the Regency Village Theatre on Monday, February 6, 2023 in Westwood, CA.
(Photo:Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
It’s interesting to note that in his comments to CNBC he made it explicit that he did not want to be involved in a culture war, but in Martin’s report it’s merely about quieting the noise.
Looking at Martin’s report cynically, it’s not hard to see that Iger wants to continue being involved in the culture war issues and actively pushing them through the company’s content, its employee trainings, its sports coverage, and more. However, he just does not want the company’s role in the culture war to be so prominent. He wants it to suppressed and quieted.
Bob Iger via 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders Webcast
If you look at Martin’s report more charitably, it would seem Iger does indeed want to remove the company from the culture wars that he embroiled it in. However, his words have so far not been followed by any actions.
In fact, at the end of August the company hired President Joe Biden’s former National Traveling Press Secretary Remi Yamamoto to be the company’s Vice President of Media Relations for its television division. Variety reported that one of her main duties would be to “oversee crisis communications and ‘issues-oriented messaging.'”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: (L-R) The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and Disney Studios Content Chairman Alan Bergman attend the Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania world premiere at Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California on February 06, 2023. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
On the Disney+ front, the company is still pushing the culture war agenda with their upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+. The series creator, Rick Riordan, recently defended his and the company’s decision to replace a number of characters by claiming it was so “that everyone could look at this series and see themselves.”
This so-called diversity agenda that Riordan espoused was exposed as a racist anti-white agenda by Emily Goldstein in a Thought Catalog article back in 2015. Goldstein declared, “Diversity IS about getting rid of white people, and that’s a good thing. … I’m extremely glad that the white race is dying, and you should be too. White people do not have a right to exist. Period. That may sound like a bold statement, but it’s entirely true. Any white person with even the faintest knowledge of history should curse themselves every single day for being white.”
She also asserted, “Diversity is indeed white genocide. And white genocide is exactly what the world needs more than anything else.”
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – Disney’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover.
The company still has racial quotas for its numerous productions. The company’s Reimagine Tomorrow website states, “We are committed to inspiring a more inclusive world by reimagining the way we tell stories and who tells them. Our intention is to broaden access and diversity in our industry by adopting inclusion standards across Disney General Entertainment* and live-action Studio productions by the end of 2022, with the goal of advancing representation in front of and behind the camera, in marketing and more.”
It then links to Inclusion Standards for ABC Entertainment which state that “50% or more of regular and recurring written characters come from Underrepresented Groups” and “50% or more of regular and recurring actors come from Underrepresented Groups” among other quotas.
ABC Entertainment Inclusion Standards
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The company is also actively grooming park guests by allowing men to dress up in drag as women at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disneyland.
A Disney employee named Nick dressed in drag was recorded greeting young children outside the shop back at the end of May.
@kourtnifaber A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep 👑 ✨ #disneyland #bibbidibobbidiboutique #corememory ♬ original sound – Kourtni
Two other male Disney employees wearing drag were also photographed greeting children back in August.
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Not only do they have male employees in drag greeting young children, but they are promoting the transgender ideology through decor put up throughout the parks.
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In August the company partnered with a man who dresses up in young girls clothes in order to hawk a number of their products.
The company paid Seann Altman to dress up as Minnie Mouse to sell a Cakeworthy Minnie Mouse dress and a Disney-branded Citizen Watch “Sensational Six.”
@disneystyle a minnie moment 🫶 #mickeyfriendsstaytrue #disney100 #grwm #ootd #minniemouse #disneyoutfits #disneycosplay ♬ original sound – Disney Style
On top of all this evidence that points to the contrary of Iger’s comments, a rumor surfaced at the end of July from WDW Pro noted that The Walt Disney Company has no intention to abandon its culture war agenda.
A source informed the scooper, “A research subcontractor I know spoke to some brand people over at Disney and the problem here is that you can’t say out loud the drain has come in part because of the DEI, the agenda, the woke stuff that the company has done. You’re not allowed to say it. If you say it you will be let go. You will be silenced. You will be punished. You will be ostracized and put to the side.”
“And if you can’t openly talk about the real problems how can you hope to fix them? The board is a problem. Iger is a problem. Key division heads are a problem,” the source declared.
WDW Pro would also share information from another source explaining why Disney would not be disengaging from the culture war, “The boycott/avoidance of [Bud Light] in a consumer backlash movement is based on the fact that the product itself is indistinguishable from its main competitors (Miller Lite and Coors Light) in blinds and all available at the same distribution points, virtually side by side at retail with similar, identical prices under normal circumstances.”
“In other words avoiding that beverage that’s under fire is very easy because there is very little inconvenience to the light beer consumer,” the source shared.
WDW Pro concluded, “Disney, on the other hand, avoiding Disney is a major inconvenience and so perhaps the folks at The Walt Disney Company assume consumers would be too burdened by trying to boycott them. And therefore, they’re not worried about it.”
The Walt Disney Company Celebrates Pride Month 2021 via Disney Parks YouTube
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On top of all of this, when Iger returned as CEO to The Walt Disney Company he made it very clear the company’s immoral agenda and its engagement into the culture war was not going anywhere.
He said, “Do I like the company being embroiled in controversy?” he then asked rhetorically of the crowd. “Of course not, it can be distracting, and it can have a negative impact on the company.”
“And to the extent that I can work to quiet things down, I’m going to do that,” added Iger. “But I think it’s important to put in perspective what some of these subjects are and not just simply brand them as political.”
EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained video from returning Disney CEO Bob Iger’s first town hall with employees, in which he signals that he will work to “quiet things down” politically and move toward neutrality in the culture war.https://t.co/ZBGdHhxFVS pic.twitter.com/ZbMCZN4MlG
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) November 29, 2022
When asked about the company’s political position on attempting to stop a bill that prevented the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to children in grades kindergarten through third grade, Iger declared, “This company has been telling stories for a hundred years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world. And one of the reasons that they’ve had a meaningful, positive impact is one of our core values is inclusion, acceptance, and tolerance. And we can’t lose that. We just can’t lose that.”
In response to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, Iger said Disney would still promote “inclusion,” but suggested that the company must strike a “delicate balance” and “listen to [its] audience” and “have respect for the people that [it’s] serving.” This is a retreat. pic.twitter.com/bZBnQdm616
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) November 29, 2022
Given this evidence alongside the rumor, it’s very difficult to not see Iger’s comments as just PR talking points to try and get the company’s immoral actions out of the press.
However, while he wants to keep the bad press away, the company will still be full steam ahead in trying to undermine the fabric of the United States and destroying morality.
Bob Iger during the 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony at D23 EXPO 2019. Photo Credit: nagi usano from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
What do you make of this latest report about Bob Iger wanting to quiet the noise about the company’s involvement in the culture war?
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