CEO Bob Iger of Disney and Wife Willow Bay Greenlight Anti-ICE Comments by Soccer Team They Own, Despite Disney’s Efforts To Please Trump

Despite efforts to stay out of President Trump’s spotlight, the chief executive of Disney, Bob Iger, is reportedly giving his blessing to the National Women’s Soccer League team that he owns, Angel City FC, to criticize the administration’s immigration crackdown. The team was sold to Mr. Iger and his second and current wife, Willow Bay, a former television journalist, in 2024. The couple paid roughly $100 million to acquire a controlling interest in the club. Mr. Iger used to be a Democrat but changed his party registration to independent in 2016. According to published reports, after his first retirement from Disney in 2021, he fancied himself as a candidate for president. But he instead returned to Disney after helping to orchestrate a coup against his successor, Bob Chapek. Ms. Bay, a former top model for Estee Lauder and other prestigious brands, was an on-camera personality for two liberal television broadcasters, ABC News and CNN.Disney was proudly liberal for many years until it began running into consumer resistance — and a significant drop in box office returns — due in part to so-called woke plotlines such as gay kisses being inserted gratuitously into Pixar, Disney Animation, Marvel, and Star Wars movies. Disney also became mired in a very public and ugly dispute with the state of Florida after the company, under pressure from its far-left employees, opposed Florida legislation restricting the teaching of sexually charged content to small children in Florida public elementary schools. Mr. Chapek was felled in part due to his flat-footed handling of the Florida controversy. Protests on June 8, 2025, at Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesWhen he returned triumphantly to Disney, Mr. Iger said the company needed to focus on entertaining, not politics. And after the 2024 election, Disney paid $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump over a false statement made by an ABC News personality, George Stephanopoulos. Mr. Iger, according to the Wall Street Journal, also signed off on the termination of a 28-year ABC News veteran, Terry Moran, after Mr. Moran posted on X that a Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, “eats his hate.” Yet despite these many efforts on the Disney front, ACFC has been publicly protesting Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown — reportedly with its owners’ approval. Ahead of the club’s home game on June 14, it printed 10,000 T-shirts with the words, “Immigrant City F.C.” on the front. On the back, in English and Spanish, the shirts read, “Los Angeles Is For Everyone.”Two-thousand shirts were placed on fans’ seats at the BMO Stadium, and more were handed out to attendees as they showed up for the June 14 game. The Team Disney Building, home to the offices of the company’s senior executives, is a tribute to the seven dwarves, who support the roof of the building much as the original 1937 ‘Snow White’ movie was the underpinnings of Walt Disney’s original success. Via TWDCThe team also walked out onto the pitch wearing the shirts, and the club’s head coach, Alexander Straus, wore the shirt for the entire match. The shirts were printed in the wake of protests at Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration raids. Mr. Trump federalized the National Guard and deployed more than 4,000 Guard members to protect federal property and personnel. ACFC’s decision to print the shirts apparently received the approval of Mr. Iger and Ms. Bay. Deadline reported the couple was “consulted through every step of the ‘Immigrant City’ process in their ownership role.”“Iger and Bay also signed off on the measure, which is viewed within the organization as very much on brand for ACFC,” the report stated.‘The Marvels,’ which boasted an ethnically diverse, mostly female cast, was criticized for political messaging and bombed at the box office, a rare miss for Disney’s highly lucrative Marvel Studio. Via DisneyThat was not the first time the club spoke out about the immigration crackdown. On June 7, when the tumultuous protests first broke out, the club posted on Instagram, “We are heartbroken by the fear and uncertainty many in our Los Angeles community are feeling right now.”“At Angel City, we believe in the power of belonging. We know that our city is stronger because of its diversity and the people and families who shape it, love it, and call it home,” the post said.ACFC did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. The ACFC chief executive and co-founder, Julie Uhrman, told Deadline, “This moment was one of the most powerful statements Angel City has made.”Disney’s canceled ‘Acolyte’ series was criticized for the portrayal of a coven of powerful women that the show’s detractors referred to as ‘lesbian space witches.’ Via TWDC“We’ve worked tirelessly to build a platform to support our community, grow women’s football, and advance equity. This was our opportunity to put that platform into action — and show the world we stand united,” Ms. Uhrman said. The Trump administration still has Disney in its sights, despite Mr. Iger’s many genuflections toward the president. The Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, announced that his agency is investigating Disney and ABC News over their “invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

CEO Bob Iger of Disney and Wife Willow Bay Greenlight Anti-ICE Comments by Soccer Team They Own, Despite Disney’s Efforts To Please Trump

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