Disney’s Bob Iger Says Infusing Woke Messaging Into Films Not ‘Number One Priority’ But ‘Great’ In Certain Situations

Mr. Iger said that ‘you can’t please everybody all the time,’ and the company has to cater to a broad audience.

Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger attends the Exclusive 100-Minute Sneak Peek of Peter Jackson's "The Beatles: Get Back" at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 18, 2021. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger pushed back against criticisms that the company pushed woke messages through its TV shows and movies, insisting the brand was an “entertainment-first company.”

“I’ve been preaching this for a long time at the company before I left and since I came back that our No. 1 goal is to entertain. I think, like, the term woke is thrown around rather liberally, no pun intended in that regard. I think a lot of people don’t even understand really what it means,” Mr. Iger said in an April 4 interview with CNBC. “The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of No. 1 priority in our films and TV shows is not what we’re up to. They need to be entertaining.”