Kimmel Embroils Disney’s Iger in Culture Wars He Tried to Avoid

Since returning to lead Walt Disney Co. in 2022, Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has tried to steer clear of the culture wars.

The company scaled back its diversity policies, scratched a transgender storyline from a cartoon, scrubbed a character’s queer identity from a kids movie and settled a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump by donating to his future library. None of those moves met with widespread opposition.

Disney CEO Bob Iger

Photographer: Martina Albertazzi/Bloomberg

But the decision to yank Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air has catapulted Disney’s CEO into the center of a battle that reflects the country’s deep political divide. Its ABC ...