Talk of Bob Iger launching a bid for U.S. president has swirled for years — with the likes of Oprah Winfrey even publicly backing a potential run by the Disney CEO in 2020. Iger had previously said he considered taking a run at the highest political office in America.
Iger has now revealed that an unnamed powerful member of the Democratic party once encouraged him to run for president. “He said to me, ‘You should run for president,’ and I said, ‘Tell me why?’” the Disney chief said on Wednesday’s episode of podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa” on SiriusXM. “And his first words out of his mouth were, ‘Well, you really look the part.’ I said, ‘Give me a break. That’s not enough.’”
Iger declined to identify the pol who make the remark, but denied to Ripa that it was Bill Clinton. “I’ve never discussed running for president with Bill Clinton,” Iger said.
Ripa, co-host of syndicated talk show “Live! with Kelly and Mark,” asked Iger whether his wife, Willow Bay, was on board with him running for president. He answered, “I would say ‘on board’ would be a bit of an overstatement, but not –” whereupon Ripa cut in and said, “Not threatening divorce?” Iger responded: “No… I think the way she said it is, ‘When I married you, I gave you my vows, for better or for worse. For whatever richer or for poor. I guess it would’ve become poorer.’” He continued, “It was along the lines of, ‘Look, I married you and I owe it to you to support your various endeavors and dreams,’ and I wouldn’t say she was fully supportive, but she was not going to fight me.”
On the podcast, Iger reiterated that he is actively — and urgently — working to find a successor as Disney CEO. He had previously stepped down as chief exec of the Mouse House in early 2020, but returned as CEO in November 2022 following the ouster of Bob Chapek. Iger’s renewed Disney contract runs through the end of 2026.
“I think it would be safe to assume that I think about [CEO succession] all the time. I could say that I’m obsessed with it would be probably an understatement and actually, the board and I established when I returned that that would be among our biggest [priorities], if not our biggest priority,” Iger said. “It’s actually something that I’m obviously very focused on, not just because of the past, but because I’d like to retire again and I’d like to leave the company in great hands, and that is my intention and I’m now confident that not only will we do that, but we’ll do so on a timely basis that works for the company and hopefully works for me as well, but yes. It’s a huge priority.”
Internal CEO candidates the Disney board is said to be considering are its four division heads: Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Josh D’Amaro, head of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
Meanwhile, Iger also told Ripa that he was “very involved” in the Beatles’ “Get Back” documentary from director Peter Jackson for which the company acquired streaming rights on Disney+.
“We had a screening at my house and Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney came along with Olivia Harrison, George Harrison’s wife, and we had a dinner at the house after we all watched a few hours of it and I had to give a toast and I looked around the table and there’s Ringo and Paul,” Iger said. “Now, don’t forget, 1964, the Beatles come to the United States. I’m 13 years old. We talked about musical taste. I mean, that was it, and there they are in my house and my toast was, ‘In my life, I’ve had many pinch-me moments and I try never to take them for granted and tonight is a real pinch me moment for me.’ And I think Paul or Ringo, I can’t remember which one, got up and said, “This is a pinch-me moment for us too, interestingly enough. All of us together, watching that.’”
Iger told Ripa about being one of the two last people — alongside legendary composer John Williams — to be selected for knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II before she died.
“In June of 2022, I got a call from someone at Buckingham Palace in the U.K. telling me that I was being named honorary Knight of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth and that one other person was getting that distinction then that was John Williams, and we were both told,” Iger recalled. After the queen died that September, Iger said, “I wondered, ‘Well, there goes my knighthood.’”
The ceremony did eventually take place last month at Windsor Castle. Said Ripa: “Wait, so are you ‘Sir Bob Iger’?” He responded that he isn’t because his designation is as an honorary Knight of the British Empire. “But I’m still gonna call you ‘Sir Bob,’” Ripa quipped.
Listen to the episode of “Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa” with Iger:
Source Agencies
