Disney CEO Bob Chapek has found himself on the outs at the entertainment giant just months after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned him not to get involved in the state’s political affairs.
DeSantis and Chapek were at odds after Chapek and Disney vowed to oppose the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by its opponents.
In an interview on The Rubin Report, DeSantis recounted, “I thought it was a mistake for Disney to get involved, and I told them, ‘You shouldn’t get involved it’s not going to work out well for you.”
Conservative commentator Dave Rubin asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to reflect on the Disney dispute.
The governor talked about how he was "punching back" and said he warned Disney, "You shouldn't get involved it's not going to work out well for you." https://t.co/PC1AaktQBq
— Kimberly Leonard (@leonardkl) June 8, 2022
He also claimed he wasn’t paying attention to this bill until the media controversy surrounded it. “I don’t know why they got involved. I think it was a huge mistake,” he noted.
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Chapek was fired this week, just five months after DeSantis warned the CEO to stay out of Florida’s affairs.
He was fired after a lackluster report to shareholders and Disney’s stocks plummeting to lows not seen in 21 years.
BREAKING: Bob Chapek Fired, Bob Iger Returning as Disney CEOhttps://t.co/wCrlb01bif
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) November 21, 2022
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The Chairman of the Board of the company said that Bob Iger, the former CEO of Disney and Chapek’s replacement, is “uniquely situated” to lead Disney through its current turmoils.
“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board for Disney, said in a statement. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period.”
While it is not certain if Disney’s politics will change under Iger, people were quick to say that Chapek’s interference in politics did the entertainment giant no favors.
Bob Chapek stood against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act.
Disney stockholders just showed him the door.
Because that’s what you get when you stand against PARENTS and come for our children.
— James Bradley (@JamesBradleyCA) November 21, 2022
DeSantis said that Disney took it “too far” when it vowed to get the Parental Rights in Education Act repealed in the state legislature.
“I think Disney took it one step further when they took out this incredible statement after they already did all of their virtue signaling and after we’d already signed the bill saying this is somehow a violation of human rights and that they would see that [the bill] was repealed through the Legislature…. I did not take an oath to subcontract out my leadership to some corporation based in Burbank, California.”
The company came under fire after an executive producer for Disney TV admitted to advancing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” on the platform.
SCOOP: I've obtained video from inside Disney's all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a "not-at-all-secret gay agenda" and is regularly "adding queerness" to children's programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
“Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to my, like, not-at-all-secret gay agenda,” said Latoya Raveneau, an executive producer for Disney Television, in a video obtained by journalist Christopher Rufo. “I was just, wherever I could, just basically adding queerness. . . . No one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me.”
Iger has agreed to serve as CEO for two years with “a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term,” Disney said.
“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Iger said in a statement Sunday.
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