On Sunday last week, the Walt Disney Company stunned the entertainment world with the announcement that Bob Iger had returned as CEO and his successor Bob Chapek was removed from his post a little over two years after he started the job.
Now a new report in The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, claims that tensions between the two have existed for some time and Iger has blasted numerous business decisions made by his former replacement.
According to the paper, Iger says prices at the Mouse House’s theme parks have become too steep (especially for middle-class families) and that Chapek focused on Disney’s streaming business to the detriment of the company’s theme parks and cable television divisions along with other sources of revenue for Disney.
Reportedly, several creative executives working at Disney would contact Iger to share their frustrations about working with Chapek, and Iger would say his successor was “killing the soul of the company”.
The report says the board reportedly considered replacing Chapek following his bungled response to the Florida state government’s controversial ‘Parental Rights in Education’ legislation.
Iger’s return, meanwhile, has largely been received positively by Disney employees, Wall Street analysts, and others in the industry. Iger ran Disney from 2005 through 2020 before taking the reins once again this past week.
Source: Indiewire
