Disney CEO shouldn’t put personal politics and favorite presidential candidate over shareholders; Shareholders urged in new YouTube video to attend annual meeting and demand to know why Disney isn’t selling ‘The Path to 9/11’ DVD
For more info contact: Steve Milloy, 301-258-2852, steve@feafund.com
Washington DC, February 26, 2008 - The Free Enterprise Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX) released a YouTube video entitled “Disney for Hillary or Shareholders?” today calling for shareholders to demand answers from Disney CEO Robert Iger at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting as to why the company is not selling the DVD of the ABC TV miniseries “The Path to 9/11.” The shareholder meeting is on March 6, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The YouTube video may be viewed at http://youtube.com/watch?v=3gowJMAUJVk.
The Disney-owned ABC TV broadcast of “The Path to 9/11” unleashed a firestorm of criticism from leading political figures in the Democratic Party who urged Disney to cancel or edit the program. But the public’s reaction to the program was overwhelmingly positive when ABC aired it September 2006: the miniseries had almost 28 million viewers, and earned seven Emmy nominations. Despite the encouraging response, Disney lost $ 40 million on the program because it was shown without commercial sponsorship.
As reported in The Wall Street Journal, political considerations surrounding the presidential bid of Hillary Clinton seems to be blocking sale of the DVD. A producer of the program was told, “If Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem.”
“Neither personal nor presidential politics should be a reason to deny shareholders a potential source of revenue,” said Tom Borelli of Action Fund Management, the investment adviser to the FEAOX. “By refusing to sell ‘The Path to 9/11’, CEO Robert Iger may be putting his personal politics ahead of shareholder profits,” Borelli added.
“The controversial nature of the miniseries improves its marketplace appeal,” observed Borelli. “Just look at the commercial success of Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11.’ If Sony can sell DVDs of “Fahrenheit 9 /11,” there is no reason for Disney not to sell ‘The Path to 9/11,’ said Borelli. Political campaign records also show CEO Iger has invested thousands of dollars in Hillary Clinton’s political career.
“Disney’s failure to sell the DVD may be the result of a conflict of interest between Iger’s political loyalties and his responsibility to shareholders,” noted AFM’s Steve Milloy. “Disney ought to sell the DVD to dispel any notion that Iger is using Disney as a tool for his own personal political agenda,” Milloy said.
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References:
- See Lehman’s “The Business of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities,” p.6 (February 2007).
- See e.g., U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, “Inhofe Says NAS Report Reaffirms ‘Hockey Stick’ Is Broken” (June 22, 2006), http://epw.senate.gov/pressitem.cfm?id=257697&party=rep.
- Kasky v. Nike, Inc., 27 Cal.4th 939, 947, 45 P.3d 243, 248, 119 Cal.Rptr.2d 296, 302 (Cal. 2002)
