‘Thin-skinned’ Disney boss Bob Iger ‘reinstated Jimmy Kimmel after cancelation threatened glitzy party he and wife were hosting’
Disney boss Bob Iger reportedly reinstated Jimmy Kimmel after the controversy started to impact his and his wife’s social life and standing.
Iger, 74, is said to have been alarmed by Hollywood’s reaction to the Kimmel suspension last week, and how it affected Willow Bay, the dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
According to Puck, Iger was particularly concerned after the host committee of a women in media fundraiser planned at their home in Los Angeles considered pulling out of the event over the controversy.
Before ABC made the announcement of Kimmel’s return, various A-list celebrities including Pedro Pascal and Lin-Manuel Miranda spoke out against the suspension.
Iger, described as ‘thin-skinned’ by Puck, would have found the ‘global criticism crushing,’ the outlet reported.
But the executive was ‘stung the most’ by public criticism from former Disney boss Michael Eisner, who blasted Kimmel’s suspension on X, writing: ‘Where has all the leadership gone?’
Disney boss Bob Iger was reportedly worried about the impact of the saga on wife Willow Bay
Kimmel’s suspension was the latest storm for Iger, who returned to Disney as boss in late 2022
ABC’s parent company made the decision to suspend the show after Kimmel falsely implied that Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter was a Trump supporter
Asserting that the move was an attack on free speech, Eisner added: ‘If 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?’
Iger reportedly ‘loathes’ 83-year-old Eisner, who ‘humiliated’ him during the succession process 20 years ago.
Insiders told Puck that Eisner would have handled the situation differently, issuing a threat to affiliate owners Sinclair and Nexstar, who said they will still not air Kimmel’s show.
Kimmel’s suspension was the latest storm for Iger, who returned to Disney as chief executive in late 2022.
The ABC late night show returned on Tuesday after it was suspended last week after the host said ‘the MAGA gang’ was attempting to portray the suspect in Kirk’s assassination ‘as anything other than one of them.’
The late-night host gave a tearful 20-minute monologue in which he claimed he ‘never intended to make light of’ the MAGA icon’s death – and then proceeded to lash out at Donald Trump over censorship.
Kimmel received a standing ovation as he told his audience: ‘A government threat to silence a comedian the government doesn’t like is anti-American.’
The comedian acknowledged his employer of more than 20 years was taking an enormous risk in placing him back on the air.
Michael Eisner, the former Disney chief executive who blasted the current media company’s leadership over Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite suspension
Eisner published the post in response to the late-night host’s cancellation on Wednesday
Prince Albert II of Monaco, Princess Charlene, Iger and Bay are seen in 2012
‘Unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk,’ he said. ‘The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from their job.
‘Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.’
Kimmel broke down when discussing what he said about the assassination of Kirk – but he never once said he was sorry.
‘I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,’ Kimmel said, his voice breaking.
Kimmel singled out FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, saying his conduct was ‘not legal’ and ‘un-American’ after the chairman threatened to go after late night comics.
He then branded Carr’s threat against Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as not only ‘a direct violation of the first amendment’ but also ‘not a particularly intelligent threat.’
‘Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car Republicans have embraced since this one,’ Kimmel cracked, before showing a photo of a Trump-branded Tesla.
Bay, seen with Harrison Ford and Iger, is the dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Iger, said to be ‘thin-skinned,’ would have found the ‘global criticism crushing’
Kimmel’s tearful address, however, wasn’t enough to silence conservative critics who vented their fury that he was allowed to return at all.
‘Not good enough,’ Kirk’s former co-host, Andrew Kolvet, wrote on X.
‘Jimmy, it’s simple. Here’s what you need to say: “I’m sorry for saying the shooter was MAGA. He was not. He was of the left. I apologize to the Kirk family for lying. Please accept my sincere apology. I will do better. I was wrong.”‘
The Daily Mail has reached out to Disney for comment on this story.
