Disney's Iger Says 'Empathy' Led Him Not to Punish ESPN's Jemele Hill Over Tweets
October 03 2017 - 8:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Fritz and Joe Flint
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert
Iger was personally involved in the decision not to discipline
ESPN's Jemele Hill after she tweeted that President Donald Trump
was a "white supremacist," the CEO said Tuesday, adding that he
felt that recent political events outweighed the company's
social-media strictures.
"We've got to take into account what we're seeing societally and
what people are feeling," Mr. Iger said at a conference hosted by
Vanity Fair magazine.
Ms. Hill, who co-anchors the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN's popular
show "SportsCenter," tweeted on Sept. 11 that Mr. Trump and those
he has surrounded himself with are white supremacists. White House
press secretary Sarah Sanders said that tweet and others by Ms.
Hill represented a "fireable offense." Mr. Trump also blasted ESPN,
saying its politics were costing it viewers and revenue.
Disney-owned ESPN said Ms. Hill had violated its social media
policies and that her tweets were inappropriate and didn't
represent the views of ESPN. However, she wasn't suspended from her
"SportsCenter" duties.
Mr. Iger said recent events have angered many Americans,
particularly those who are black. "A little empathy in that regard
would go a long way," he added. "I felt we needed to take into
account what Jemele and other people at ESPN were feeling at this
time. That resulted in us not taking action on the tweet that she
put out."
The Disney CEO addressed criticisms that ESPN has become too
political and should stick to sports and highlights.
"They're covering sports as part of our society, that's part of
ESPN's charge, we've given them license to do that," he said.
Mr. Iger also spoke out on the controversy about National
Football League players who don't stand during the national anthem
to protest police brutality. Mr. Trump went after football players
for not standing, saying team owners should fire them. Many black
players have knelt or raised a fist during the anthem as a protest
toward police brutality.
Mr. Iger, who described himself as "pretty patriotic," said he
would prefer people stood up for the national anthem but that he
understood why some of players don't.
By wading into the twin cultural debates, Mr. Iger is sure to
take some heat himself. But in an onstage discussion, the Disney
chief waded further into politics than he typically has in the
past.
He commented on gun control in the wake of Sunday's mass killing
in Las Vegas. After noting that one Disney employee was killed and
two more were injured, Mr. Iger rattled off statistics about gun
violence in the U.S. and said that he disagreed with those who
believe Americans shouldn't discuss potential policy issues in the
immediate aftermath of a tragedy,
"I don't think this is politics at all," he said. "I think this
is a huge crisis for our country."
Mr. Iger didn't advocate for a specific gun-control policy, but
said: "We should be demanding a dialogue about this from our
politicians and demand some productive action to stop these things
from happening."
Mr. Iger, who in June quit a presidential business council when
Mr. Trump decided the U.S. should exit the Paris climate change
accord, has privately mused about going into politics after his
planned retirement from Disney in 2019, people at the company have
said. He didn't comment at the Vanity Fair summit when asked about
his post-Disney plans, including whether he might run for
president. Moderator Nick Bilton, a Vanity Fair correspondent,
asked the audience if he should run. Mr. Iger wasn't overwhelmed by
the scattered applause that followed, joking that it was a "tepid
response."
Politics is a complicated topic for Disney, America's largest
media company, given the broad global audiences it reaches with its
channels, movies and theme parks. The company has been drawn into
political issues recently through ESPN, though, as sports and
politics have become more intertwined.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com and Joe Flint at
joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 03, 2017 19:48 ET (23:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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