Go Woke, Go Broke: Disney Fires CEO After Dismal Stock Performance

Read time: 3 minutes 33 seconds

After less than a year into his retirement, Bob Iger is back as CEO of Disney. His original successor, Bob Chapek, has left the company.

This shocking announcement was made late Sunday night as Disney stock is down 38% for the year.

Under Chapek’s command, Disney has had several blockbuster bust’s that led to his announcing cuts across the company, and his eventual ousting.

With controversy surrounding movies like “Lightyear,” a separate storyline from the Toy Story franchise that famously recast Tim Allen’s iconic voice for Chris Evans, which featured a lesbian relationship and kiss. Many speculated that the reason for recasting Allen was his outspoken conservative views.

Disney also went head-to-head with the state of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis over the Parental Rights in Education Act, falsely dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“We were opposed to the bill from the outset, but we chose to not take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind the scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle,” Chapek said at a stockholder meeting after receiving criticism from the left.

In April of 2022, Florida passed a law that will dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek governing district by June of 2023. The new restrictions this would place on Disney, and the control that the state of Florida now had over their construction of new structures, played a large role in how Chapek’s competency as CEO was viewed.

Gov. Ron DeSantis denied that this dissolution was in retaliation for Chapek’s public criticism of him saying, “People who criticize me saying you’re punishing Disney are also saying we’re going to relieve Disney of $766 million in debt? How would that be a punishment?” DeSantis said. “It makes no sense that that would be the case.”

Whether Iger can salvage the relationship between the two sides remains to be seen, but did reside over a friendly relationship with the state during his previous tenure.

For many parents however, the turn that Disney has taken in pushing LGBT-driven romances and agendas is the driving force for their abandoning the company.

As reported by Charisma News, Disney’s newest release coming out Nov. 23, “Strange World,” features a teenage LGBT romance. This further alienates Disney from audiences who seek refuge from movies that push LGBT ideology onto children.

But fans and parents who grew up with Disney as kids should not be surprised by any of these messages in Disney movies. It is the company simply living up to what they said they were going to do.

Disney’s president of General Entertainment Content Karey Burke admitted to this live on a conference call. She is on video saying, “I’m here as a mother of two queer children, actually,” Burke said. “One transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader.” Burke said that she supported “many, many” LGBT characters in Disney’s upcoming film rotation.

This mindset moving the company forward was echoed by Disney’s diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware, who shared that they no longer use pronouns or any gendered language whatsoever.

“Last summer we removed all gendered greetings in relationship to our live spiels,” Ware claimed. “So, we no longer say ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls … It’s hello everyone or hello friends.”

It remains to be seen if the reinstatement of Iger will lead to a toning-down of the LGBT messaging within Disney’s movies. The stock market seems to think this is right decision, and bounced upward almost 10-points after the announcement saying Iger was back in charge.

One thing is for certain: Disney will do whatever makes them the most profit. They still send cruises to countries like the Dominican Republic who does not recognize same-sex marriage. Disney also bends the knee to whatever communist China demands regarding their film distribution in the country of over a billion. So it is not the messaging that they stand behind, but the almighty dollar.

Whatever happens, the house of mouse has a long road ahead if it wants to earn back the trust of families that support traditional marriage and do not want their children viewing sexualized material in movies. {eoa}

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.