Much has been said about the various CEOs of major American businesses finding themselves being appointed by President Donald Trump as members in some committee or other. Names such as Ike Perlmutter of Marvel Entertainment and Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla are a sampling of the kind of people he wants on his teams, though there were some who didn't stay. Also included is Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company who is part of the president’s economic advisory council, much to the chagrin of some of the firm’s shareholders. Iger found himself having to justify his involvement with Trump’s policy-making, using an analogy from a certain popular Broadway musical that has got Trump’s ire.
Like in ‘Hamilton’
At the annual Disney shareholders’ meeting Wednesday March 8, Iger found himself defending his appointment to the Strategic and Policy Forum, the said economic advisory council of the President from some members in attendance. In addition, he had to answer charges of anti-Trump bias coming from ABC and ESPN, two networks under the larger Disney umbrella. In two instances Iger was requested to resign from Forum, formed in December last year, due to his participation in the council’s policy-making to be a blatant condoning of Trump’s economic direction and more. He however made clear that his involvement in the forum was not equal to unquestioning endorsement of Trump policies.
Iger explained that his decision to accept a place on the council was in accordance to Disney’s best interests and that of the entire industry, saying his position enabled him to directly communicate with the President on numerous issues. He equated his involvement with the forum to the context of a song from the musical “Hamilton”.
Lyrics from “The Room Where it Happens” about being in the room – that is the advisory council – that gives him a chance to express opinions to better the Disney Company’s interests and that of the shareholders.
Other stuff
Regarding news of pervading bias against Trump from ESPN, Bob Iger disagrees and stresses that the perceived anti-conservative viewpoints expressed were merely gross exaggerations.
In the case of ABC, which was counted among the media outlets described by Trump and followers as “Enemy of the American people”, he countered that it was a natural occurrence for leaders and their supporters to believe that some news sources are predisposed to view them unfairly, as the same thing happened in the Obama administration as well.
Not all was serious business at the Disney meeting however. Iger was asked questions by children in the audience too. He didn’t name any particular Disney princess as his favorite, but noted that the questioning girl shared the same name as Riley from “Inside Out”. He then told a boy how excited he was for the upcoming “Star Wars” Millennium Falcon theme park ride, and invited him to share one go.
