Disney CEO speaks out against "very disturbing" Hollywood strikes

Hours before the Sag-aftra’s national board approved over 160,000 actors going on strike, Disney CEO Bob Iger called the potential fallout "very disturbing".

In an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday morning (13 July), Iger said it was "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."

The 72-year-old went on to say that the expectation "is just not that realistic," with complaints that it was the "worst time in the world to add to that disruption."

"I understand any labor organisation’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," Iger said.

"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."

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It comes after Oppenheimerstars staged a walk-out from the London premiere to "write their picket signs" ahead of the Sag-Aftra strike announcement.

Sir Kenneth Branagh told PA: "Everybody is working very hard to make sure it doesn’t happen, if it happens I stand in solidarity with our Sag members.

"We know it is a critical time at this point in the industry and the issues need to be addressed, difficult conversations, I know everybody is trying to get a fair deal, that is what’s required so we’ll support that."

Murphy added: "I stand by my colleagues, that’s all I can say to you."

Meanwhile, British actress Florence Pugh expressed how the past few days had been "really, really tense" for everyone in the industry.

She continued: "Equally, premieres aren’t just for us, they are to honour a movie, they are to honour a crew that made them so we feel both lucky, that we got to squeeze this in, and also lucky that we get to stand by our peers in a decision that is made.

"We hope that something comes of it soon."

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