Bob Iger Claims Disney Isn’t Political, In Reality Defying Interview
The Walt Disney Company has publicly reorganized itself around promoting and prioritizing left to far left political views over the past decade. Virtually everyone in America has realized this reality, which explains why the company's struggled so spectacularly in the past few years. Except for the company's CEO, apparently.
Iger appeared at the New York Times' Dealbook event, in a far-ranging interview. And during the discussion, he addressed some of the political topics that have earned Disney so much criticism, as well as its dramatic decrease in box office revenues.
Sorkin asked about the failure of Wish and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, to which Iger admitted that neither of those films were actually good.
"In our particular case, and specifically about those films, some of those films, they were not as good," Iger said. "They were not as high in quality." Sounds like something that will make the filmmakers behind those projects happy, doesn't it?
But Iger continued, saying that they don't prioritize "woke characters," just entertainment. Though he did admit that some creative talent have "lost sight" that entertainment should be the priority over preaching.
"I think what had happened over a period of time, it was building and building and maybe I think it it it reached a peak of some sort while I was gone is that creators lost sight of what their number one objective needed to be," Iger said.
That said, he also issued a strong, anti-reality denial of his company's environmental and social goals, "So if anyone has accused us of being political when it comes to that, they're just dead wrong."
No Bob, you're dead wrong. And you know it.
Disney CEO Doesn't Understand His Own Mistakes
The timing of Iger's answer is questionable, at best, considering what his own financial employees revealed in an SEC filing recently.
READ: DISNEY ADMITS IN FINANCIAL FILING THAT THEIR WOKE POLITICS MAY HAVE HURT THE BRAND
But what Iger does, so artfully, as the would-be politician he wants to be, is distract from woke political views by couching activism as an inarguable good. In the interview, he said that if there's too much pollution, tourists won't want to go to their parks. Thus making environmental advocacy a must for the company.
But there's a huge difference between trying to reduce pollution and aligning yourself with nonsensical "green energy" goals. Not to mention that China is among the worst polluters on earth, and Disney's shown no inclination to criticize the Chinese Communist Party for its environmental record. While opening a theme park in heavily polluted Shanghai.
Iger also defended the company's obsessive battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, saying that DeSantis wanted to "punish the company" for exercising its "right to free speech." Except, of course, Disney has frequently punished employees who used their right to free speech, such as Gina Carano.
Iger Refuses To Acknowledge The Real Problem
When discussing the company's film failures, he claims that Disney isn't political or interested in making woke characters.
Except the creative talent behind Wish, the latest massive studio flop, specifically publicly stated that they based the lead character on Michelle Obama and Karine Jean-Pierre. Even saying that Jean-Pierre has this "beautiful, beautiful presence, face and energy and yet she just sticks to the facts."
Sounds very neutral and non-political to me!
Iger won't admit that Disney has abandoned its core values because he was instrumental in creating the financial disaster its facing right now. Under his leadership, Disney shifted from being a family-friendly company to one that prioritizes political goals first and foremost. Now that he's seeing the disastrous financial consequences, he's paying lip service to mild changes.
But it's too little, too late. Disney lost the trust of the consumer, with its reputation score dropping roughly 12 percent in just a few years and its stock price plummeting.
Until he corrects the rot at the core of the company's ideology, it'll never be fixed. And Disney will keep putting out politically charged movies that flop. And he'll come right on back to throw his hands up and say that far left beliefs aren't actually political at all. Rinse, repeat.