It appears that Bob Chapek era at Walt Disney Co. is over.
According to a company statement, the entertainment behemoth fired the CEO on Sunday and will be replacing him with former CEO Bob Iger, 71, after Chapek’s tenure was marred by falling stock values, bleeding profits, and an insane pivot to ‘woke’ left-wing content that alienated core audiences.
“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” Disney Chairman Susan Arnold said in a statement, the Daily Wire reported.
“The company was also criticized for featuring a lesbian kiss in kids’ movie ‘Lightyear,’ showing a transgender man purchasing tampons in a TV series, and emphatically embracing the trend of Environmental, Social, and Governance, a strategy that courts investors by promoting a host of woke values within the corporate structure,” the outlet said.
The outlet added: “Disney stock has fallen over 40% over the last year amid an ailing economy. It’s woes have been blamed on a series of decisions that have alienated its family-minded and in many cases, conservative, customer base. The company clashed bitterly with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over a law that prohibits public schools from teaching kids below the fourth grade about sexual orientation and radical gender theory.”
Chapek publicly opposed the law, which was misnamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, leading the Republican-controlled legislature passing another bill stripping Disney of its special tax-break status in the state, costing the company even more money. The measure was quickly signed by DeSantis.
Conservative Brief reported in June:
Speaking at Seminole State College in Sanford, Fla., in mid-May, DeSantis reiterated his promise that the state’s taxpayers will not take on Walt Disney World’s debt when and if the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) dissolves in 2023.
The Republican governor suggested that some legislative measures may be put in place to prevent that from happening.
Iger sent an email to all Disney employees denoting his return to the company.
“Dear Fellow Employees and Cast Members,” he wrote in an email obtained by The Ankler. “It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility-and, I must admit, a bit of amazement-that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer.
Email from Bob Iger to Disney staff, 7:19 p.m. pic.twitter.com/IiTQvBYYZp
— The Ankler (@TheAnkler) November 21, 2022
“When I look at the creative success of our teams across our Studios, Disney General Entertainment, ESPN and International, the rapid growth of our streaming services, the phenomenal reimagining and rebound of our Parks, the continued great work of ABC News, and so many other achievements across our businesses, I am in awe of your accomplishments and I am excited to embark with you on many new endeavors.
“I know this company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging, but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist.”
