Kimmel decorates Disney's Iger in cultural wars he tried to avoid

(Bloomberg) – Since returning to Walt Disney Co. In 2022, CEO Bob Iiger tried to stay away from the cultural wars. The company scaled its diversity policies, scratched a transgender story line from a cartoon, scrubbed a character’s strange identity from a child film and established a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump by donating to his future library. None of these movements have widespread opposition. But the decision to blow Jimmy Kimmel live! Out of the sky, Disney CEO has catapulted at the center of a fight that reflects the country’s deep political gorge. ABC star Jimmy Kimmel caused a fire storm of criticism this week with comments on the murder of activist Charlie Kirk. As a result, Trump and his top telecommunications -regulator threatened the company, saying that his ABC stations could lose their broadcasting licenses. This time, Disney’s response rebuilded acquittal advocates, entertainers and supporters in the creative community. Protesters went outside Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, California, and in the theater in Hollywood Boulevard where the show was recorded. “You can’t fire anyone because you are scared or try to suck after an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office,” former host David Letterman said on Thursday at an event hosted by the Atlantic Magazine. “It’s just not how it works.” Representatives of Disney did not respond to requests for comment. That was not how Iiger’s homecoming was supposed to go. He returned three years ago, partly to clean up similar problems that chosen by his successor who was chosen by hand. Bob Chapek angered Disney employees when he decided that the media and theme park business, a large employer in Florida, would not oppose the legislation in the state that limited the discussion of gender issues in public schools. He traced back, but waged with a long battle with Republican Governor Ron Desantis. Disney has lost control of a special district that is home to its parks and hotels. Upon his return, Iger fed the battle with Desantis, but eventually established and later agreed to invest up to $ 17 billion in Florida operations over a decade. The interests are also high this time. Iiger’s opponents are the president of the US and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The Brendan Carr of the FCC oversees the broadcasting industry regulating and has the power to block transactions at a time when media companies are under financial pressure to consolidate and reduce the costs. For Kimmel, it is about free speech. On change.org, a website where users can create and sign petitions across different social causes, 57,000 people supported Kimmel’s reinstatement. On the social media website Reddit, individuals have instructions on how to cancel Disney Streaming Services. The decision to suspend Kimmel also upset Disney studio and corporate staff who consider the move as an overreaction, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Disney’s former CEO, Michael Eisner, also expressed his disapproval in a post about X. Damon Lindelof, who set the hit program for ABC, said on Instagram that he was “shocked, sad and annoyed” by Disney’s decision to suspend Kimmel. He said he was looking forward to being lifted and threatened to boycott the company. Iiger may have seen problems with the second Trump administration. In discussions with fellow CEOs during an annual haven in Sun Valley, Idaho, he expressed concern in August 2024 that the government would try to interfere with Disney operations, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A year earlier, he expressed his concern about ideology creeping into films and TV series. “We have recently been criticized because you just expressed what some considered agenda-driven content,” Iiger said at Disney’s 2023 annual meeting. “And I’m actually sensitive to it. Our primary mission must be to entertain. ‘ Disney and Kimmel negotiate how to solve the suspension, according to people who are familiar with the matter. The company wants to return Kimmel in the air and discussed the future of the program with him, said the people who asked not to be identified are discussing private deliberations. The discussions are complicated. Sinclair Inc., the largest owner of local TV stations associated with ABC, called on Kimmel to apologize in public and donate to Kirk’s family. Although Disney did not ask him, Kimmel was reluctant to apologize and believe that he says nothing that would require it. This is an important test for Disney TV chief Dana Walden, who delivered the news to Kimmel after consulting with IGer. She is a lifelong TV executive and has strong ties with former Vice President Kamala Harris and competes to pass Iiger as CEO. In less politicized times, Kimmel’s remarks would probably not have produced the controversy they did today – nor the great response of his employer, according to Gabriel Rossman, a sociology professor at the University of California in Los Angeles. He specializes in radio and film. “The indefinite suspension should be seen in the context of the falling business model of late night talk amid the fragmentation and cutting of the audience, and an FCC and president who aggressively threatened the broadcasting licenses,” he said. More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP