Disney’s Iger Is The Problem, Not The Answer

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue 

Bob Chapek, who was fired as the Disney CEO, certainly made enemies in and out of Disney. But he is not entirely to blame. Much of that goes to his predecessor, and now successor, Bob Iger. 

Few outside of Disney even heard of Chapek until he made a big splash sticking his nose into politics earlier this year. In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, a measure that prohibits attempts to sexualize little boys and girls in grades kindergarten through third grade. 

Chapek’s initial stance was to stay out of the controversy. But Iger, who had retired, couldn’t resist undercutting the man he handpicked to succeed him. 

On February 24, while the bill was being debated—in Florida and around the country—Iger tweeted his opposition to it, siding with President Biden. Our “devout Catholic” president called the attempt to protect children from being sexualized “hateful.” Iger added that the bill “will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.” 

Less than two weeks later, Chapek folded. On March 7, he pledged his opposition to parental rights. “I want to make it crystal clear: I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.” On March 11, he dug himself in deeper when he apologized to the radicals who pressured him. 

It would be a mistake to think that Iger opposes parental rights for business reasons. No, he does so for moral reasons. 

On March 31, CNN aired an interview that Iger had taped with Chris Wallace a few weeks earlier. 

“A lot of these issues are not necessarily political. It’s about right and wrong.” Similarly, he said, “When you’re dealing with right and wrong or when you’re dealing with something that does have profound impact on your business, I just think you have to do what is right and not worry about the potential backlash to it.” 

Iger’s statement could not be more clear. The man who now leads Disney thinks it is morally right for teachers to question kids about whether they are content being a boy or a girl—that is exactly the kind of grooming exercise that DeSantis, and millions of Americans, oppose. 

Look for things to deteriorate further, on the moral front, at least. 

Chapek’s biggest weakness was in working with the creative team at Disney. One of Iger’s first comments as CEO was to assure that this will be corrected. “It is my intention to restructure things in a way that honors and respects creativity as the heart and soul of who we are.” 

By “creativity,” the woke masters at Disney mean such things as women kissing each other in children’s films. That’s why the LGBT crowd pressured executives to include a gay kiss in the movie “Lightyear.” They got what they wanted. 

Well, not exactly. Disney did not show the gals kissing in the Middle Eastern and Asian version, electing not to offend Muslim despots and the Communist slavemasters in China. As for religious folks in America who would like to be spared such fare, that’s just too bad—they need to be reeducated. 

It’s not just Iger who wants to morally pollute America—it’s Disney’s president Karen Burke. She likes to brag that she has “one transgender child and one pansexual child.” More important, she boasts Disney has “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters.” 

Disney won’t stop until parents rebel. While there are some very encouraging signs that parents have had it, there needs to be more resistance to those who want to eroticize children. We need to teach Iger what “right and wrong” should really mean.