Bob Iger Roasted for Calling Hollywood Strike Demands Unrealistic: ‘Not Much Is Realistic When You Make $27 Million a Year’

S&P today affirmed its A- investment grade credit rating for Disney after CEO Bob Iger, in a recent interview with CNBC, injected a big dose of uncertainty into what the company may look like going forward.

Stephen Amell, whose Starz drama series Heels returned for its second season over the weekend, is not going to the mat for the actors strike that is currently taking place in Hollywood.

Bob Iger, with pressure mounting on multiple fronts, has turned to former top Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, hiring them as consultants to the media giant as it defines its strategy.

Sony has removed the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse from its release schedule, according to reports.Per Variety, Sony has delayed multiple movies like Kraven The Hunter and a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, while completely removing Beyond The Spider-Verse from its roster, effectively delaying the already-in-development film indefinitely.Beyond The Spider-Verse was originally scheduled for release in March 2024, but was halted due to the ongoing writers and actors strike in Hollywood. According to reports from Variety, the film’s voice cast were unable to complete dialogue recording before the strikes commenced and union’s work stoppage orders kicked in.According to Variety‘s report, a revised release date is expected to be announced in “the coming weeks”.The Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led Kraven The Hunter has also been pushed back from October 2023 to August next year, while the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife is being delayed from December 20, 2023 until late March 2024.Meanwhile, films like Venom 3 and Bad Boys 4 have received their first release dates.

Brad Pitt has paused filming on his forthcoming Formula One movie to support the ongoing Hollywood strikes.The project currently titled Apex stars Pitt as a driver who comes out of retirement to team up with a rookie and take on the titans of the sport.He recently shot scenes at the British Grand Prix as part of the production earlier this month.But filming has now ground to a halt as Pitt “very much stands” alongside his fellow actor union members, according to PA (via Sky News).According to Deadline, filming was set to take place at the The Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in Belgium during the Grand Prix today (July 30) but this has now been pulled.The next planned dates for shooting are in Las Vegas in November.Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is working as a producer and will also be advising on the storyline and script on the Apple Studios film.The latest development comes just days after the 2023 Emmy Awards were postponed due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards were scheduled to take place Monday, September 18 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles but are now likely to go ahead next January.The actors’ strike coincides with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which began on May 2 and halted production on a number of projects.

Could an October surprise be coming to Hollywood’s picket lines and C-suites?

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Bryan Cranston delivered a fiery speech at a SAG-AFTRA strike rally in Times Square on Tuesday, which included a message directed at Disney head Bob Iger. “We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger,” Cranston said from the stage of the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Here’s an example of just how chaotic things are in Hollywood these days: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s recent remarks that the company’s linear TV assets “may not be core” to its business were buried under the lede of his comments that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are not being “realistic” in their contract negotiations last week. But now that a small bit of the initial dual strike dust has settled, sources inside and outside of Disney are asking what reaction Iger was looking to provoke by announcing Disney’s intention to “open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses,” which include broadcast network ABC as well as cablers FX, Disney Channel, Nat Geo and Freeform, among others. (Not ESPN, which is run by Jimmy Pitaro under a separate segment of Disney’s business from its other TV and streaming assets.)

Netflix stands to benefit from the dual strikes underway in Hollywood while competitors like Disney and Apple will get “weaker,” in part because of the streamer’s vast international production pipeline, a top media-stocks analyst said Wednesday on the brink of earnings season.“The strike plays to their advantage,” Michael Nathanson, founding partner of SVB MoffettNathanson, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’ve not been a Netflix bull, but their setup for this quarter and the next 12 months is incredibly strong.”Co-host Andrew Ross-Sorkin seized on that notion, seeking to clarify whether Nathanson meant Netflix would get stronger merely relative to its competition – or if it could help the streamer overall. The answer seemed to be: a bit of both.“I think relative, clearly, right?” Nathanson said.

Fran Drescher, the sitcom star turned actors union leader, preferred to evoke the French Revolution, likening SAG-AFTRA’s struggle to the proletariat’s rebellion against an out-of-touch monarchy. “Eventually the people break down the gates of Versailles,” the “Nanny” star said during a press conference officially announcing the strike.

Chris Stephens took to Twitter on Monday to express his disappointment over the studio’s decision to prune the plants in the middle of their demonstration.“Quick shoutout to the good people at @UniversalPics for trimming the trees that gave our picket line shade right before a 90+ degree week,” Stephens sarcastically penned.Alongside the tweet, the entertainer shared a photo of the trees looking bare and leaf-less.The ongoing writer’s strike began on May 2 and workers were joined by the actors’ union SAG–AFTRA on July 14.The viral post garnered angry — but also some hilarious — responses from his followers regarding Universal’s act of arboreal aggression.“That’s so shady,” one quipped.Quick shoutout to the good people at @UniversalPics for trimming the trees that gave our picket line shade right before a 90+ degree week. pic.twitter.com/aZvvPYQ23i“Whoever ‘trimmed’ those trees may have just killed a bunch of trees on city property, that weren’t theirs to trim.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Disney didn’t let the SAG-AFTRA strike get in the way of its “Haunted Mansion” world premiere. None of the stars of the movie were expected to be in attendance, including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hasan Minhaj, Marilu Henner and Lindsay Lamb all observing the SAG-AFTRA strike. The studio still rolled out the red carpet at Disneyland in Anaheim Saturday night. Director Justin Simien told Variety he was “sad” his cast couldn’t attend, but understands why and supports the actors walkout. Later in, he gave a shoutout to the cast while introducing the movie.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" star Sean Gunn blasted Disney CEO Bob Iger over comments that the executive made about the Writer's Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)  strikes. Shortly before SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on strike Thursday, Iger, 72, made an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" during which he said that the pending actors union strike would have a "very, very damaging effect on the whole business." "It will affect the economy of different regions, even, because of the sheer size of the business.

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently sat down with CNBC for an interview during which he shared his views on the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Fran Drescher is opening up about the SAG-AFTRA strike and how long it might go on.

Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis and other top actors joined picket lines alongside screenwriters on the first full day of a walkout that has become Hollywood's biggest labour fight in decades.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the company will be pulling back on creating new Star Wars and Marvel content.The announcement comes on the back of the company’s attempts to cut costs, having seen a number of their recent films, from Marvel to animation, underwhelm at the box office.“You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less,” Iger told CNBC on Thursday (July 13).Iger said that many of the decisions were made to prop up the company’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, and attract more customers.The Disney CEO went on to note that an influx of new Marvel content, both on the big and small screens, had “diluted focus and attention”.“It had not been in the television business at any significant level, and not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of TV series,” said Iger.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher railed against Disney CEO Bob Iger during an interview with Variety on the strike picket lines outside of the Paramount Pictures studio lot. In a July 13 interview with CNBC’s David Faber out of the Sun Valley Conference, Iger said WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers were not being “realistic” with their demands. “I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf,” Drescher said when asked about Iger’s comments. “I don’t think it served him well. If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this, because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”

Well, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav already put his foot in his mouth responding to the WGA writers’ strike, so now it’s Bob Iger‘s turn.

Striking writers now have a new punching bag: Bob Iger.