Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger is back in….again. With less than stellar 4th quarter earnings, Susan Arnold and team, who just a couple months back, renewed Chapek’s contract for 3 years, and backed that contract with a vim and vigor of confidence, unceremoniously booted Chapek out and replaced Chapek with none other than the man who initiated Disney’s decline in the first place…Bob Iger. This smells of coercion, panic, and desperation, and points to Bob Chapek being the fall guy for Bob Iger’s selfish incompetence and manipulation. Make no mistake, Bob Iger has been itching to get back in the drivers seat. Bob Iger’s coup d’etat will go down in Disney’s history, as one of the worst financial decisions the company has ever made. No matter what machinations happened behind the scenes between Bob Iger’s handpicked board of investors and Bob Iger, this will go down as the pinnacle moment that Disney revealed how obsessed and protective they are of governing from a false foundation known as ESG and their woke ideologies. By bringing back Bob Iger, Disney has chosen to stay the woke course, and continue to alienate parents, fans, and families that make up a majority of their fanbase.
Bob Chapek Was a Threat to the Board’s ESG and Woke Ideologies
Disney’s 4th quarter earnings were abysmal, and in my opinion, were the catalyst or excuse Disney’s board of investors used to hang Bob Chapek out to dry and usher in a salivating Bob Iger. Disney’s direct-to-consumer division, which includes Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN+, lost 1.5 billion dollars in their fiscal 4th quarter. That’s up significantly compared to last year’s 4th quarter which showed a loss of 630 million. That trajectory obviously spooked Disney’s board of investors, who could now use that as an excuse to fire Bob Chapek, and make him the scapegoat for the financial problems the board of investors are helping fuel. There’s also the possibility that Bob Chapek was a threat to investors on the board who are invested heavily in maintaining a positive ESG rating. In other words, Disney has investors on the board that hold Disney accountable to their environmental, social, and governance risk factors. This could range from Disney’s commitment to combating global warming, how diverse and inclusive they are, or how equitable they are. The higher the ESG rating or score the better for Disney. Basically, investors who care about this kind of scoring, would be more inclined to invest, just as long as Disney was playing by the rules. An example of how this rating might have been adversely affected in the board’s eyes, was when Chapek fired entertainment chief Peter Rice. Peter Rice was the head king of woke, and that would not have boded well for those on the board that are all in on the woke agenda.
Bob Iger Left Chapek a Mess and Chapek is Now Being Blamed for It
Chapek had only been in charge for 11 months. And in those 11 months he had to fight against the leftist activist machine that Bob Iger dumped in Chapek’s lap. The leftist activist machine won, and now Bob Iger is back, in what appears to be a desperate or panicked move by Disney’s board of investors to right the ship how they see fit. The problem is that everyone outside of Disney…Disney’s fans and consumers…knows why Disney is losing money hand over fist. It’s Disney’s obsession with a woke ideology that is permeating all of their content. For example, Parents don’t want their kids watching content laced with very adult topics like LGBTQ themes(Baymax on Disney Plus, Lightyear, etc…), consumers are sick and tired of going to over priced theme parks that have been changed dramatically to fit a woke narrative and have lost their nostalgic nuance that made Disney theme parks so special(Splash Mountain, Galaxy’s Edge anyone?), and fans are sick and tired of being preached and barked at because they don’t like the garbage Disney is producing. Just look at the MCU’s phase 4 fan reactions, and you’ll find a plethora of legacy media blaming the fans for its failure. In addition, parents and families didn’t like being attacked from a once welcoming to all Disney Company, when they were attacked over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill, just because parents didn’t want LGBTQ themes being taught to their children.
Related: An Abomination to the MCU
Bob Iger as CEO Again is a Doubling Down on a Formula That Doesn’t Work
So is it surprising that Disney is losing money? Not one bit. So what does Disney decide to do? They insultingly fire their current CEO, who was dealt this woke mess by Mr. Iger himself, and then hire back the woke master in chief himself, Bob Iger, in the hopes of righting the ship? That’s not going to end well, and is probably more a safe bet with the investors than anything else. Disney’s board of investors might think Bob Iger is the solution to Disney’s financial woes, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bob Iger was the architect of incorporating woke political ideology and was responsible for hiring the leftist activists within the company. Hiring back Bob Iger was a doubling down on “The Force is female” and the “M-She-U” type of content we will see in the future. Fans would be well reminded, that it was Bob Iger that green lit and approved of all of the content we have seen in the theaters and on Disney Plus. You know like turning away your male audience that was the majority fanbase for the Marvel and Star Wars properties in favor of an all female diversity and inclusive version.
Bob Chapek Was Disney’s Fall Guy
Bob Chapek might not have been a perfect fit for Disney’s new woke direction, but he might have been the long term solution to Disney’s woke agenda. Remember, even though Chapek was promoted to CEO in 2020, he didn’t get full control until January of this year. 11 months vs Bob Iger’s 15 years of influence, plus Iger being a board member, doesn’t sound like Bob Chapek had control at all. And before anyone calls me out on this, I will admit that after seeing what has transpired in the last few days with Chapek’s firing, Disney’s activist agenda was too big for even Chapek to get under control. I never liked Bob Chapek as Disney’s CEO, and wrote many articles that were extremely critical of his performance. But after seeing how unceremoniously he was let go, has shed new light on the fact that Disney’s investors might have been scared of what Chapek had planned for Disney’s future, and showed me at least, how definitively they did not want to see that direction come to fruition. Bob Chapek’s firing was a shock to everyone considering that even after a disastrous earnings call a couple of weeks ago, there was still apparent confidence in Chapek as CEO and a three year contract to back that up. This was a hit job from the investors to Bob Iger himself, and Bob Chapek was unfortunately their fall guy.
