Posted in: Movies, streaming, TV | Tagged: bob iger, disney, Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA, wga, writers' strike

SAG-AFTRA President Drescher: Bob Iger "Stuck His Foot In It So Bad"

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher shared some more thoughts on Disney CEO Bob Iger's comments regarding the strikes from last week.

If you thought SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher didn't have more to say about Disney CEO Bob Iger's comments regarding the SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes against the AMPTP from last week where he referred to the unions' points as "just not realistic" (more on that below), you would be very much wrong. Speaking with Sen. Bernie Sanders during a livestream interview this week, Drescher once again held Iger's feet to the fire over his comments. "He stuck his foot in it so bad that you notice none of the other CEOs are opening their mouths," Drescher said. "There he is, sitting in his designer clothes and just got on his private jet at the billionaire's camp, telling us we're unrealistic when he's making $78,000 a day. How do you deal with someone like that who's so tone-deaf? Are you an ignoramus? I don't understand. We need someone with character and courage to go into those boardrooms and say, 'Listen, we're doing this all wrong. Why are we doing this anyway? We're in business with these people. They are who we are building our business off of.'"

"I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf. I don't think it served him well. If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this because it's so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard-working people that don't make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make, and they don't care if they're land barons of a medieval time," the SAG-AFTRA President shared during an interview with Variety shortly after Iger's comments went public last week – here's a look:

"It's very disturbing to me. We've talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we're facing; the recovery from COVID, which is ongoing, it's not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption," Iger offered CNBC's David Faber last week during the Thursday morning edition of CNBC's Squawk Box from Idaho's Sun Valley Conference. "I understand any labor organization's desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we'd like to do the same thing with the actors. There's a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive."

Iger went on to say that although he understands the unions looking for "as much as they possibly can in compensation for their people," he believes that writers and actors must "be realistic about the business environment, and what this business can deliver." The Disney CEO continued, "It will have a very, very damaging effect on the whole business, and unfortunately, there's huge collateral damage in the industry to people who are supportive services, and I could go on and on. It will affect the economy of different regions, even because of the sheer size of the business. It's a shame; it is really a shame."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!