Bob Iger Slammed for Saying Hollywood Strike Demands Are Unrealistic

Disney CEO Bob Iger sat down for an interview Thursday morning and started trending immediately after he said that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA’s conditions were “just not realistic” and that the prospect of a writers and actors strike was “very disturbing.”

Iger’s comments come on a historic day, when SAG-AFTRA is expected to announce they are joining WGA on the picket lines after their Wednesday contract negotiations deadline passed without a deal. It would be the first Hollywood double strike in sixty years.

Also notable for context, Iger’s comments arrive the day after his Disney contract was extended for an additional two years. Sky-high executive salaries have become a lightning rod during the WGA strike and a rallying cry on social media as CEOs.

“The lack of self awareness in this business never ceases to amaze me,” actor Anson Mount said on social media in response to Iger’s Thursday comments, highlighting Iger’s exec pay package.

Speaking of C-suite pay, Iger’s interview was also set across the sprawling pastoral landscape of Sun Valley, Idaho, where media’s biggest moguls gather for what’s colloquially been dubbed “billionaire summer camp.”

“Well if nothing else, Bob Iger giving this quote to CNBC’s Squawk Box from Sun Valley is putting Hollywood satire writers out of business,” The Black List founder Franklin Leonard quipped on Twitter.

Suffice it to say, the combination of all these elements did not go over well and Iger quickly shot to the top trending spots on Twitter as users had a field day roasting Iger’s latest comments.

He’s not doing this interview in Sun Valley, Idaho, at what’s often called “billionaire summer camp” is he?

Haha no way that would be so silly of him. https://t.co/AQUVaMGP5O

— Stop Cop City (@JoshuaPHilll) July 13, 2023

Should I remind Bob that I worked as an assistant for three years on the Disney Lot for $32,000 a year and never got a raise?

— Travis Gunn ? (@TravisAGunn) July 13, 2023

Reminder: Bob Iger does not create anything of value to Disney. No stories, characters, movies, shows, iconic moments, nothing.

That is all credit to the WORKERS they are trying to break. It’s long past time to balance the scales. https://t.co/Xjh4JcVTsf

— Alec Kucharski (@AlecKucharski) July 13, 2023

You know what hurt support staff, Bob? Short orders. No upwards mobility bc of the stacking of UL writers with no real middle level or lower level writers. Your company being stingy with hours and setting precedents. That’s what is hurting support staff, not the fucking strike. https://t.co/hTvnzE3wPd

— Will Landman ? (@WillTheLandMan) July 13, 2023

Disney CEO Bob Iger—who makes $27M/year—complains that writers & actors aren’t realistic in their demands, refuses to answer what’s unrealistic, & admits a strike will be devastating.

Yes—that’s how strikes work. That’s why they’re effective.

Pay Workerspic.twitter.com/DNw1T6SNft

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) July 13, 2023

Bob Iger, a man who is worth several hundred million dollars and runs a corporation that bills itself as a fantasy kingdom, is now lecturing writers and actors about the importance of realism. https://t.co/qsBrHVkcHA

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 13, 2023

There’s barely any pathway for support staff to rise up because shrinking episode orders and smaller writers rooms/mini rooms have decimated lower level job oops and freelance script opps. That’s why pre-wga have been on the line with us en masse. #wgastrong https://t.co/mmUgGtkfU0

— Judalina Neira (@TheJudalina) July 13, 2023

This is very disappointing. Of all the CEOs, I thought Iger would be the “adult in the room.”

I worked for Disney for 13 years, most under Iger’s tenure. I’ve met him. I believed he understood and supported creators.

I was wrong. This is the saddest day of the strike, for me. https://t.co/FpwthaYDfc

— Shawna Benson (@shawnabenson) July 13, 2023

Just to be clear, we don’t expect to make $40 million a year like Bob Iger. But we do expect to be able to sustain a career in this industry. That has to be realistic or the business has to change until it is. https://t.co/3QDJPuKsYS

— Jill Twiss (@jilltwiss) July 13, 2023

“you have to be realistic about this business environment” actually no we don’t. Your unrealistic business environment is on you and your wall street buddies. You can have fun with your exponentional growth expectations, our thing is wanting fair compensation for the art we make https://t.co/r2PSbY4Npi

— caitie delaney (@caitiedelaney) July 13, 2023

Disney+ removed both seasons of a show I’d staffed on from the platform, ensuring that I’ll never make another dollar in residuals from it, or be able to watch it again.

Mind you, the show gave them 11 Emmy Noms last year.

What’s “realistic” about that? https://t.co/MQ5iipjLK7

— jr (@jamesearl23) July 13, 2023

Bob Iger just gave himself a $5 million a year raise on his $27 million a year contract that he just extended through 2026, which is not realistic and very disturbing to me. https://t.co/3VLN7CsTOj

— Carrie Courogen (@carriecourogen) July 13, 2023

You gotta hand it to Iger cuz it takes a lot of meat in the pants to film an on-camera interview at the Sun Valley “billionaires’ summer camp” and keep a straight face while you blame striking writers for hurting struggling support staff.

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) July 13, 2023

“But if I can’t continue the Hollywood tradition of exploiting workers, how can I continue to hoard even more wealth? It’s unrealistic.” https://t.co/30EzesDY25

— Cis Mel Moorer ?️‍? (@knownforms) July 13, 2023

Somehow, even with SAG joining the WGA on strike (once the actors’ national board meets at 9am to approve the negotiating committee’s unanimous recommendation), today’s main character of the strike is Bob Iger, who woke up and decided to be David Zaslav pic.twitter.com/sCEGu3le2R

— Rob Forman WGA Board Candidate & Uni Lot Coord (@robsforman) July 13, 2023

Primary tactic control

Paint your adversary( and its troubling it’s so adversarial) as ” unrealistic/ unhinged)

for having basic requests of respect and boundaries

Expect no push back

This is also why covering these men too much is BAD for labor https://t.co/gguRNM5NDh

— ?Sydette Cosmic Dreaded Gorgon Clydesdale?? (@Blackamazon) July 13, 2023

Modern business isn’t realistic. You can’t have ever increasing growth indefinitely.

Shareholders, boards, and CEOs need to learn to accept making reliable money instead of All the Money

— Judge Zedd (@EsserZed) July 13, 2023