A new insider report suggests that Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy is spending her remaining influence lobbying for Disney CEO Bob Iger to receive an Honorary Oscar—just as the Academy negotiates its next broadcast deal with Disney owned ABC.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attends the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
According to Variety, Kennedy has been actively reaching out to Academy board members, encouraging them to support Iger for one of this year’s prestigious honorary awards, which are traditionally presented at the Governors Awards in November. Sources say Kennedy has used recent membership meetings to personally pitch Iger’s contributions to the film industry, which include Disney’s multibillion-dollar acquisitions of Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm.
Apparently Kennedy believes Iger deserves an Oscar because he bought a whole bunch of expensive properties…
Bob Iger via New York Times Events YouTube
It’s worth noting that Bob Iger wouldn’t be the first Disney executive to receive such an honor. Walt Disney himself was awarded multiple Honorary Oscars during his lifetime—beginning with one in 1932 for the creation of Mickey Mouse. He famously received a special Oscar in 1939 for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, presented with a full-sized statuette and seven miniature ones. Disney was also honored for technical innovation on Fantasia in 1942, and later received the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for excellence in producing.
For a company so steeped in Hollywood history, an honorary Oscar for Iger would carry a symbolic connection to Walt’s legacy and give Iger a matching accolade that his predecessor Michael Eisner never received.
Walt Disney in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1966), Walt Disney Productions
Whether Kennedy (or Iger if this is coming from him…) is consciously making that link or not, some within the Academy suspect the move is about more than just recognition—it’s about securing Iger’s place alongside the company’s founder in the industry’s most exclusive circle.
Reportedly, Kennedy is acting on her own initiative and supposedly not at Iger’s request… However, Bob Iger is also the man who named a multi-billion dollar building in the heart of Manhattan after himself.
Still, the optics of the effort are already raising eyebrows within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The ethical questions come not just from Kennedy’s personal relationship with Iger, but also because of the tangled corporate relationship between Disney and the Oscars themselves.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Kathleen Kennedy attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
Disney owns ABC, the longtime broadcast home of the Academy Awards. The Academy is currently in the middle of negotiating a contract renewal for the Oscars telecast beyond 2028, which will mark its 100th ceremony. Many feel pushing a Disney CEO for an honorary Oscar in the middle of those negotiations raises uncomfortable questions about influence and impartiality.
On the surface, Kennedy pushing for Iger to take home an honorary Oscar may sound innocuous enough—but in this context, the entanglement of personal lobbying, broadcast rights, and institutional politics is anything but simple.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Kathleen Kennedy onstage during the Andor studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)
A representative for AMPAS declined to comment, and neither Kennedy nor Iger have made public statements regarding the lobbying effort. However, one Academy source downplayed the controversy, noting that lobbying for honorary Oscars is not unusual—though many inside the organization are privately speculating about Kennedy’s motives.
Kennedy has already received the Academy’s prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, alongside producing partner Frank Marshall, in 2018. While not a standard Oscar statuette, the award cemented Kennedy’s status as one of the most decorated producers in Hollywood history, with eight competitive Oscar nominations for films like E.T., The Color Purple, Seabiscuit, and The Sixth Sense.
Still, her record at Lucasfilm has been far more divisive. While early projects like The Force Awakens and Rogue One brought massive box office returns, recent years have seen stalled film development, a pivot to streaming, and fan backlash over shows like The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
Notably, no Star Wars theatrical film has released since 2019. That is set to change soon with The Mandalorian & Grogu movie and a developing Ryan Gosling-led Starfighter project—but both are seen as late entries following years of missed opportunities.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: (L-R) Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, Chief Creative Officer, Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attend the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
This lobbying push may also coincide with Kennedy’s efforts to cement her legacy. As previously reported, she is expected to leave Lucasfilm by the end of 2025, though she has publicly stated that she’s been “planning for succession” without offering a firm timeline.
Bob Iger | 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony | D23 EXPO 2019. Photo Credit: nagi usano from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As the Academy prepares to announce its 2025 Honorary Oscar recipients, all eyes will be on whether Iger’s name appears among the honorees—and whether the Kennedy-Iger-ABC triangle draws further scrutiny. Until then, the intersection of corporate power, personal loyalty, and Hollywood’s highest honors remains very much in the spotlight.
Do you believe Kennedy is lobbying for an Oscar for Iger? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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