Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and his team turned the tide last week when they returned Kimmel<\/a> to his late-night perch.<\/p>\n But the pressure on Disney\u2019s top brass remains. Trump was not happy over Kimmel\u2019s comeback<\/a>, grousing that he may lob another lawsuit at ABC. In December, Disney agreed to pay $15 million<\/a> to end a defamation suit<\/a> Trump brought against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos<\/a> over misstatements.<\/p>\n And FCC Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a> \u2014 who threatened ABC over Kimmel\u2019s comments <\/a>\u2014 isn\u2019t backing down; he\u2019s already opened one investigation<\/a> into Disney and ABC for their diversity embrace<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [situation] isn\u2019t going away anytime soon,\u201d Nien-h\u00ea Hsieh, a Harvard Business School professor, said in an interview. \u201cHow it is managed certainly matters a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kimmel controversy exposed cracks at the Burbank company that has long meticulously managed its image. It also highlighted the fraught environment facing Disney\u2019s next leader during a period of significant challenges for the entertainment juggernaut.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccession is difficult for any company \u2014 the stakes are high,\u201d Hsieh said. \u201cBut Disney also is kind of a lightning rod that attracts criticism because of its brand and its prevalence and prominence.\u201d<\/p>\n Iger, 74, is retiring for a second time <\/a>in late 2026, when his contract expires. Within a few months, Disney\u2019s board is expected to name a replacement \u2014 a pivotal decision for a company that has long struggled with succession. <\/p>\n Aside from the Trump administration, Disney\u2019s next boss must navigate the shift to streaming<\/a>, competition<\/a> from tech giants<\/a>, the rise of artificial intelligence<\/a>, a potential economic slowdown and fragile geopolitics with a theme park in China and one planned for the Middle East<\/a>. The new CEO also must try to keep Disney from again being drawn into America\u2019s culture wars<\/a>.<\/p>\n Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger is expected to retire at the end of 2026 after nearly 20 years leading the Burbank entertainment giant. <\/p>\n (Jay L. Clendenin \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Four internal candidates are vying for the job, including Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, who oversees television and streaming and managed the Kimmel crisis with Iger.<\/p>\n Josh D\u2019Amaro, Disney\u2019s theme parks and experiences chief, is viewed by many as the leading contender<\/a>. <\/p>\n Also in the CEO mix are ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro<\/a>; and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman, who oversees movies, including the Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars franchises, and, in concert with Walden, entertainment streaming services.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next leader needs to be very attuned to how the company is perceived and valued by its customers and clients,\u201d Hsieh said. \u201cThis is a moment for people to be very clear about their values.\u201d<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s values were questioned by many after the decision to yank Kimmel from the air.<\/p>\n As protesters buzzed around Disney\u2019s Burbank headquarters and Kimmel\u2019s darkened theater on Hollywood Boulevard, the voice of the company\u2019s former chief rang out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere has all the leadership gone?\u201d Michael Eisner asked in a stinging Sept. 19 social media post. \u201cIf not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment?\u201d<\/p>\n Disney hadn\u2019t formally addressed the situation. The only public message was a terse ABC statement on Sept. 17 \u2014 minutes after Iger and Walden moved to suspend the show: \u201c \u2018Jimmy Kimmel Live\u2019 will be pre-empted indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimmel was furious. It was about an hour to showtime and his studio audience was queued up outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre. He had intended to clarify his words that night.<\/p>\n But Walden and Iger were worried the comedian was dug in, and his planned remarks would only inflame the situation.<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s move to bench Jimmy Kimmel prompted protests, including days of demonstrations outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, where \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d is taped. <\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n What was initially viewed by Disney executives as a social media storm \u2014 vitriol from Trump supporters \u2014 had morphed into an existential threat for ABC when Carr, the FCC chairman, threatened to go after station licenses.<\/p>\n Carr urged other broadcasters to take a stand \u2014 a call heeded by Nexstar Media Group<\/a>, which needs FCC approval for its proposed $6.2-billion takeover of a rival TV station owner, Tegna<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nexstar pulled Kimmel\u2019s program, followed by the politically conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group. The two companies own stations that provide 22% of ABC\u2019s coverage. <\/p>\n Protesters called for a Disney boycott this month outside the darkened stage of \u2018Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u2019 The comedian returned Sept. 23.<\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n ABC\u2019s ambiguous seven-word statement suggested to many that Kimmel wasn\u2019t returning.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,\u201d Trump wrote on his Truth Social<\/a> platform that night. \u201cCongratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n Disney executives privately said they were simply hitting pause. ABC executives and talent were getting death threats, according to one insider who was not authorized to discuss the situation. Later, in Sacramento, a gunman fired three shots into the lobby of an ABC-affiliated station. No one was injured. <\/p>\n But Disney\u2019s initial response was roundly criticized for being weak, an abdication of the 1st Amendment. \u201cTo surrender our right to speak freely is to accept that those in power, not the people, will set the boundaries of debate that define a free society,\u201d Anna M. Gomez, the sole Democrat FCC commissioner,<\/a> said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Executives defended the ABC statement, noting that anything Disney had said at that moment could have exacerbated its troubles with the FCC and station groups. One insider added that company also needed time to weigh whether it was worth bringing back the show. <\/p>\n Iger and Walden held a Sunday sit-down with Kimmel on Sept. 21 to clear the air. The following day, Disney announced his show would return.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a reaction to any regulatory threats or political threats \u2014 it was an editorial decision because we felt the comments were ill-timed and, thus, insensitive given the topic,\u201d Horacio Gutierrez, Disney\u2019s chief legal and compliance officer, said in an interview Monday. \u201cWe felt our responsibility was to avoid further inflaming the situation during a very delicate and emotional time for the nation and that couldn\u2019t be achieved in the heat of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Gutierrez said narratives about Disney\u2019s motives were inaccurate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guidance we were given by Bob as we were thinking this through was to do the right thing, and that\u2019s what we did in both preempting the show and in putting it back on the air,\u201d he said. \u201cOther people can comment about what they would have done or said \u2026 but the reality is the action of the company speaks louder than any words.\u201d<\/p>\n Brian Frons, a former senior ABC executive and a UCLA Anderson School professor, said the way the crisis was handled reflected Iger\u2019s measured leadership style.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cThis situation could have turned into a firefight with the [Trump] administration \u2014 a direct confrontation,\u201d Frons said. \u201cIt could have been Florida-Chapek all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s last major public relations debacle was in early 2022, when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek tumbled into a political quagmire with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. <\/p>\n Disney belatedly opposed a Florida law banning school conversations about sexual orientation, the so-called Don\u2019t Say Gay bill, prompting DeSantis to retaliate with a takeover of a Central Florida land-use board overseeing development around Walt Disney World. <\/p>\n Chapek\u2019s shaky handling of the Florida dispute, which led conservatives to declare the company had become \u201cwoke,\u201d was among the reasons Disney board\u2019s fired him in November 2022, returning Iger to the top job<\/a>. <\/p>\n Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger (left) and Bob Chapek (right) who served 2 1\/2 years as chief executive. Chapek was removed in November 2022 to make way for Iger\u2019s return.<\/p>\n (Business Wire)<\/p>\n Chapek had been Iger\u2019s hand-picked successor but lasted in the job just 2\u00bd years as pandemic dealt a crushing blow to theme parks, movie theaters and sporting events.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our instant-response culture, we want managers to have an immediate response and confrontation,\u201d Frons said. \u201cSometimes, the instant solution might not be the best one.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kimmel crisis and Chapek\u2019s stormy tenure hover over succession.<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel has long been its leadership handoffs. Over the years, Iger postponed several planned retirements, prompting at least one prospective successor, Tom Staggs, to exit the company in frustration. <\/p>\n The switch to Iger from Eisner 20 years ago was even more tumultuous, a move made to tamp down a shareholder revolt.<\/p>\n Before Iger was in the wings, Eisner recruited Creative Arts Agency co-founder Michael Ovitz \u2014 a debacle that ended in a court battle and a $140-million Disney payout.<\/p>\n Walt Disney Co. Chairman James P. Gorman is the former chief executive of Morgan Stanley. <\/p>\n (China News Service \/ China News Service via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Last year, Disney turned to James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley\u2019s former executive chairman, to oversee the succession process amid past criticism that some board members were too deferential to Iger. (A source close to the company disputed that characterization.)<\/p>\n Gorman became chairman of Disney\u2019s board in January. He\u2019s credited with orchestrating a smooth transition at the bank where he served as CEO for 14 years.<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s board has said it would consider internal and outside candidates when determining who\u2019s best equipped to lead the $206-billion company. <\/p>\n Walden was viewed as the early favorite, but some believe that Trump\u2019s election last November might have changed that. The 60-year-old television executive has long been supportive of Democrat causes and is a friend of former Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n Walden joined Disney in 2019 after Disney swallowed Rupert Murdoch\u2019s Fox entertainment properties, including the Fox television and movie studios<\/a> and a controlling stake in Hulu. She oversees ABC, ABC News, Disney Channel, National Geographic and, with Bergman, the streaming services. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear whether the Kimmel controversy helped or hurt her chances. By the end of last week, both Nexstar and Sinclair had abandoned their boycotts, returning the show to their ABC-affiliated stations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this situation holds, Dana may have proved herself as a very effective crisis manager,\u201d Frons said.<\/p>\n Clockwise from top left: Alan Bergman, Josh D\u2019Amaro, Dana Walden and Jimmy Pitaro.<\/p>\n (Evan Agostini, Chris Pizzello and Richard Shotwell \/ Invision via AP)<\/p>\n D\u2019Amaro, the parks and experiences chief, is thought to have an edge<\/a>. Neither Disney nor the board have signaled that there is a front-runner. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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