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With Bob Chapek speaking out for the first time about his Disney firing, journalist Ben Smith is looking back at his involvement in the former CEO’s feud with Bob Iger.
Ben Smith and the Chapek-Iger Fight
Bob Iger resigned as Disney CEO in 2020, appointing Bob Chapek as his successor. But within a few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic had rocked the world and Iger, who was still executive chairman of Disney’s board, reportedly took some CEO duties back.
That reporting came from Smith, who had just arrived at The New York Times. In a recent post, Smith reflected on his article, which forced a wedge between Chapek and Iger.
Soon after my arrival at The New York Times in March 2020, a source suggested I write about the fact that Bob Iger, who had just handed the reins at Disney over to Bob Chapek, appeared to have thrown himself back into the company amid the developing COVID-19 crisis. Though my title there was media columnist, I’d never covered Hollywood and didn’t know the players.
Iger responded to Smith’s inquiries with a “brief email” including this statement:
A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!
This quote was in Smith’s article, titled “Bob Iger Thought He Was Leaving on Top. Now, He’s Fighting for Disney’s Life,” with a tagline stating Iger was “reasserting control.”
Since then, Smith’s article has been cited several times as a turning point in the relationship between Iger and Chapek.
Smith went on to say in his new post, “The story and, I think, the perception that Iger had deviously placed it to undermine his successor turned into one of the industry’s great dramas. My contact with Iger, it turned out, was the last straw”.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Chapek said, “When [Iger] did the interview with Ben Smith where he essentially reasserted himself as CEO that was as big a sign as possible of an attempt to undermine me.”
Smith responded to Chapek:
As is often true, the reality was dumber than the theories: While the underlying tensions between the Bobs were obviously real, my story wasn’t some devious plant; I was new to the beat and bumbling around. Iger didn’t call me up to do an interview; he shot back a couple short emails. These theories often give everyone too much credit.
Chapek is in the news again as he promotes his memoir, which he co-wrote with Don Yaeger. Titled Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth, the book will be released on September 29, 2026 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
Early excerpts from the book reveal Chapek stands by his Disney Parks price hikes and takes credit for Josh D’Amaro’s rise to CEO.
Chapek told CNBC on Monday that he wrote the book to “get the truth out there” about what happened during his time with Disney. He said he doesn’t have beef with Bob Iger, just what Iger did to regain control of The Walt Disney Company.
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The post Journalist Ben Smith Reflects on How His Reporting Sparked the Iger-Chapek Feud appeared first on WDW News Today.
