"We need to be an entertainment-first company" - Bob Iger responds to "Woke Disney" comments

Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, recently did a wide-ranging interview with CNBC where he declared that the multi-national organization is focused on succession and capturing broad, diverse, audiences.

On Thursday, the 74-year-old acknowledged the impact of critics calling Disney’s content "woke", saying it did have merit. He explained that although they foster acceptance and understanding, they are an entertainment company. Iger said:

"Generally speaking, we need to be an entertainment-first company … And understanding that look, we’re trying to reach a very, very diverse audience. And on one hand in order to do that, what you do, the stories you tell, have to really reflect the audience that you’re trying to reach."

Bob Iger added that since the audience is "so diverse," their priority is to "be entertained, and sometimes they can’t be turned off by certain things." He also talked about Disney's future efforts.

"And we just have to be more sensitive to the interest of a broad audience. It’s not easy, you know so that we can’t please everybody all the time, right?"

Florida governor Ron DeSantis had branded Walt Disney a "woke" corporation back in 2022 because of films that allegedly pursued a politically correct, LGBTQ+ agenda. Elon Musk and Nelson Peltz have also criticized Iger's version of Disney for the same reason.

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Bob Iger talks about "Woke Disney" criticism and says the company's mission is to entertain

Bob Iger had the interview with CNBC a day after his leadership received a vote of confidence from stakeholders.

Activist shareholders drew a campaign led by billionaire Nelson Peltz, who had taken the company to task for its allegedly subpar stock performance in recent years. Peltz gave his opinion about the "woke" culture around Disney in an interview with the Financial Times, where he asked:

"Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both?"

He also commented about the blockbuster Marvel film, Black Panther, asking: "Why do I need an all-Black cast?"

Bob Iger was also asked about woke culture and Disney's alleged practices, to which he responded:

"The term woke is thrown around rather liberally, no pun intended in that regard. I think a lot of people don’t even understand really what it means. I think the noise is sort of quieted down. I’ve been preaching this for a long time at the company before I left and since I came back then our number one goal is to entertain."

Recently, on April Fool's Day, Elon Musk took the time to criticize "Woke Disney", something he is known to do quite often. He went on X to say that he was joining the company as its chief DEI officer. The mogul then sarcastically quipped:

"Can’t wait to work with Bob Iger & Kathleen Kennedy to make their content MORE woke! Even the linguini."

Bob Iger brushed aside questions about Musk’s trolling of the company, telling Faber that “there’s no relevance to The Walt Disney Company or to me." He added on the entertainment topic, saying,

"The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we’re up to. They need to be entertaining, and where the Disney company can have a positive impact on the world, whether it’s, you know, fostering acceptance and understanding of people of all different types, great."

CEO Bob Iger has announced he will step down in 2026. The business executive began his career running errands for productions at ABC. He moved to Disney in 1995.