Michael Eisner, the former Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company who presided over the corporation for an extensive twenty-one years and was instrumental in orchestrating the landmark acquisition of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1995, has voiced sharp disapproval of a recent strategic decision made by his successor, Bob Iger. Eisner has expressed that he believes Iger acted unwisely in choosing to place *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* on an open-ended hiatus, a move that followed direct threats issued by Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointed during the Trump administration.
In a detailed message shared on the social media platform X, Eisner underscored his discontent with the handling of the situation. His criticism emerged in the context of a broader discussion regarding the appropriate balance between corporate leadership, political pressure, and the defense of creative expression within the entertainment industry. It is worth recalling that Eisner himself once made the controversial judgment call to suppress the theatrical release of Martin Scorsese’s film *Kundun* in response to significant diplomatic and commercial pressure from the Chinese government. By invoking his own prior experience leading Disney through a politically sensitive controversy, Eisner aimed to draw a parallel between past and present dilemmas while simultaneously questioning the current absence of bold, principled leadership. His rhetorical question — “where has all the leadership gone?” — underscores not just frustration, but also nostalgia for an era when he believes Disney might have confronted such pressures differently.
Although Eisner refrained from explicitly naming either Bob Iger or Dana Walden, the Disney Television Group’s current chairwoman, his remarks were unmistakably directed toward present leadership decisions. He described the FCC’s threats against Disney as ultimately lacking substantive power, labeling them “hollow” in nature and portraying them as yet another instance of what he characterizes as excessive intimidation emanating from political authorities. In his view, this episode serves as yet one more reminder of the fraught intersection between corporate decision-making, governmental pressure, and the preservation of freedom of expression in American media. By casting the FCC’s actions as intimidation rather than legitimate oversight, Eisner highlighted the precarious position in which major cultural institutions find themselves, forced to balance commercial viability, political relationships, and their responsibility to safeguard the creative independence of artists and entertainers.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/streaming/782191/ex-disney-ceo-michael-eisner-calls-the-fccs-threats-out-of-control-intimidation
