The Girls (Disney CEOs Named Bob) Are Fighting

The New York Times has obtained a copy of former Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek’s memoir, and he is dishing. In his upcoming book, Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth, Chapek says Iger peaced out of Disney to avoid having to deal with Covid. Chapek also says Iger never really left the company, and acted like he always believed he could return to the company anytime he wanted. Given the fact Iger did return to the company, that belief was not unwarranted. “I have been told by several high-ranking people both in government and private business that in their opinions, the real reason he left the company so abruptly was his anticipation of the arrival of Covid,” Chapek writes. This goes counter to Disney’s official stance, which is a flat denial that Covid had anything to do with one Bob stepping down and another stepping up.

Chapek claims he did nothing wrong as top dog at the House of Mouse. “My abrupt dismissal hurt my reputation, leaving those close to me, outsiders and some within the kingdom trying to figure out what I did wrong,” he writes. “The answer, again, is nothing.” Other feel he did something. Chapek was criticized for raising prices while gutting entertainment and operations at the theme parks, slagging off ScarJo and Simu Liu, and a tepid response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Chapek also credits himself with helping current CEO Josh D’Amaro rise to the top of the company. “I consistently suggested the idea of promoting him,” Chapek writes. “He had been a relative unknown in the corporate hierarchy before I singled him out.” A man known in the fandom as “Daddy D’Amaro” probably didn’t need singling out. Dude stands out in a room.