In a recent interview with Sandy Munro of Munro & Associates, Elon Musk lampooned Bob Iger and The Walt Disney Company claiming that Walt Disney is “turning in his grave faster than a drill bit” with how the company is being run.
Elon Musk and Sandy Munro via Munro Live YouTube
After a discussion about Tesla’s Cybertruck, Munro brought up Musk’s recent appearance at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit where he called out the numerous advertisers that launched a blackmail campaign against X, and specifically pointed to Bob Iger and The Walt Disney Company.
Munro stated, “I’m not going to get all emotional and everything, but, to me, I’ve watched that one clip that people have been putting out. To me, and putting up against, forgotten their name, Disneyland or whatever, at the end of the day I will never take my grandchildren ever to that place, ever.”
Musk replied, “Well, you have to wonder what would Walt Disney think of the company that is his namesake today? I think Walt Disney’s turning in his grave faster than a drill bit.”
As noted above, Musk called out The Walt Disney Company and specifically Bob Iger after Iger’s own appearance at the DealBook Summit where he attempted to explain why he had The Walt Disney Company stop advertising on X.
Iger stated, “By [Elon Musk] taking the position he took in quite a public manner, we just felt that the association with that position and Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one, and we decided we would pull our advertising.”
He added, “We are now allowing entities at the company to use X as a platform to communicate, ABC News is a good example of that, ESPN, another.”
Musk would respond to Iger’s comments as well as the other companies and executives who decided to stop advertising on X saying, “I hope they stop. Don’t advertise.”
When asked to elaborate, Musk said, “If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself. Go f**k yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey, Bob [Iger] if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel. Don’t advertise.”
This isn’t the first time Musk has vocalized his criticism f The Walt Disney Company and Bob Iger’s leadership.
Following, the DealBook Summit interview, Musk shared a graphic indicating there was more anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views being posted on Instagram and TikTok compared to X. He questioned, “So then why is Disney boycotting 𝕏, yet spending millions on other platforms?”
So then why is Disney boycotting 𝕏, yet spending millions on other platforms? pic.twitter.com/vIX5hhc8RS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 1, 2023
Responding to a fake meme about Disney losing 23 millions subscribers, Musk noted that Disney’s advertising boycott of X “is contrary to the interests of their shareholders.”
Musk posted, “This is fake, but Disney and others were buying advertising on this platform because it made financial sense for them to do so – it wasn’t some kind of charitable donation! In boycotting 𝕏, they will experience a meaningful decline in distribution, which is contrary to the interests of their shareholders.”
This is fake, but Disney and others were buying advertising on this platform because it made financial sense for them to do so – it wasn’t some kind of charitable donation!
In boycotting 𝕏, they will experience a meaningful decline in distribution, which is contrary to the…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2023
Musk would also declare, “Disney has a major content problem. Almost their entire upcoming slate is unwatchable. They are the world’s biggest example of go woke, go broke lol.”
Disney has a major content problem. Almost their entire upcoming slate is unwatchable.
They are the world’s biggest example of go woke, go broke lol.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2023
Musk is not the only one who thinks Walt Disney is spinning in his grave knowing what Bob Iger has done the company. Former Disney designer and the son of the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs director David Hand noted his father and Walt “would be turning in their gaves.”
Reacting to comments made by actress Rachel Zegler regarding the upcoming Snow White live-action film, Hand told The Telegraph, “I mean, it’s a whole different concept, and I just totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it.”
“I think it’s pathetic that people feel that way… these are art forms in the world of film today,” he added.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
Hand would also criticize the company for going woke, “I’m afraid of what they’re going to do with the early films… their thoughts are just so radical now.”
“They change the stories, they change the thought processes of the characters, they just aren’t the original stories anymore,” he detailed. “They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that.”
He then noted, “I find it quite frankly, a bit insulting that they may have done with some of these classic films.”
“There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did… I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves,” he declared.
Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney Studios
What do you make of Elon Musk’s comments about Walt Disney and how he would view Bob Iger’s leadership of the company that bears his name?
