Michael Eisner, a former Disney CEO who left the company 20 years ago, has criticised his former employer senior leader, and implicitly, the current Bob Iger.
“Where did all the leadership go?” Eisner wrote in an X post on Friday. “Without the university president, the administrative partner of the law firm, and the CEO of a company that stands up against bullies, who will stand up to the first revision?”
“Jimmy Kimmel’s “indefinitely halt” shortly after the chairman of the Disney company’s offensive yet false threats is another example of an out-of-control blackmail. Perhaps the Constitution should not say that Congress should not enact laws that reduce freedom of speech.
Eisner added, “Because of the record, this former CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel extremely talented and entertaining.”
A Disney representative did not respond to requests for comment.
ABC on Wednesday said Kimmel’s show was suspended “indefinitely.” The network provided no reason, but the announcement came after two large station groups (Nexstar and Sinclair) that collectively operate around 70 ABC affiliates, said they were dropping “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” About the comments he made on the show on September 15th about Charlie Kirk’s murderer. FCC Chair Brendan Kerr said on the podcast that the network and its affiliates will be targeted for “FCC additional work” unless ABC “takes action” in relation to Kimmel. Carr warned, “We can do this in an easy or difficult way.”
Eisner’s tenure at Disney coincided with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Eisner, now 83 years old, was appointed CEO of Disney in 1984 and announced plans to resign in 2004 before officially resigning in September 2005. Kimmel debuted in January 2003.
Last year, when Disney was in the middle of a Nelson Peltz Proxy fight to take a seat on the board, Eisner gave Eiger full support. In March 2024, Eisner said: “Bob (Igar) brings in people who have no experience in the company or industry to disrupt Bob (Igar) and his ultimate successor has played not only fires but earthquakes and hurricanes.
