When Walt Disney died in 1966, The Walt Disney Company was left without its beloved leader and visionary who changed the world. Thankfully, they still had Walt’s brother, Roy O. Disney, who knew what his brother and business partner would have wanted. Roy worked tirelessly to keep Disney running in Walt’s vision, and it is thanks to him that we have the wonderful place that is Walt Disney World Resort.Sadly, Roy died shortly after Walt Disney World opened, leaving the company adrift, and the vultures swooped in. For more than a decade, the company battled several attempts at hostile takeovers, and in 1984, Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney (Roy O’s son) brought in Michael Eisner to serve as CEO and Chairman.Credit: DisneyRelated: How Eisner Improved The Walt Disney CompanyFor nearly twenty years, Michael led The Walt Disney Company through a massive period of significant change. He truly seemed to understand what both the parks and Disney’s film studios needed to get to the next level.When it came to the theme parks, Eisner was the brain behind things like the introduction of FastPass and Magical Express. He was also behind massive expansions at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, including the construction of Disney California Adventure Park, MGM Studios (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios), and Typhoon Lagoon.Mr. Eisner was also the driving force behind Disney’s global expansion, with the creation of Disneyland Paris (1992), Tokyo Disney (2001), and Hong Kong Disneyland (2005).Credit: Hong Kong DisneylandRelated: Disney Legend Michael Eisner Still Teaching Bob IgerUnfortunately, not everything at Disney during Mr. Eisner’s tenure was sunshine and rainbows. In 2004, after a brutal campaign led by Roy E. Disney (the same man who brought him on board), Eisner announced that he would be stepping down, and then-current Walt Disney President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Iger would be taking his place.Despite his less-than-stellar ending with Disney, Michael Eisner has remained a beloved figure, and fans frequently look back on his time as Disney CEO with great fondness. They also love hearing from him and getting his opinion on the goings-on at the Mouse House and how he feels about the massive changes that have been made in recent years.Credit: DisneyRelated: What a Legendary Disney CEO Had To Say About Bob ChapekOn September 17, Bob Iger enraged fans when it was announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was being pulled off the air, effective immediately, after Mr. Kimmel spoke about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and made fun of Donald Trump.Fans were not the only people upset at Disney and ABC’s drastic decision. The move was ripped apart by the Producers Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, fellow late-night hosts Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and David Letterman, and even former President Barack Obama.Now, as Disney is still dealing with the fallout and ensuing protests in front of its Burbank studios lot, Mr. Eisner has weighed in, and he is not holding back.Credit: Video Screenshot, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, ABCRelated: Jimmy Kimmel Given List of Demands In Order to Get Back On AirIn a scathing tweet, Eisner called Disney out, asking, “Where has all the leadership gone?” He also encouraged all CEO’s and those in leadership positions to stand up against bullies.Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment? The “suspending indefinitely” of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the Chairman of the FCC’s aggressive yet hollow threatening of the Disney Company is yet another example of out-of-control intimidation. Maybe the Constitution should have said, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest.” By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny.Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment? The “suspending indefinitely” of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the…— Michael Eisner (@Michael_Eisner) September 19, 2025Related: After Jimmy Kimmel Cancellation, Trump Administration Threatens ‘The View’According to reports, Bob Iger and Dana Walden — the co-chair of Walt Disney Entertainment — sat down with Mr. Kimmel before pulling his show and asked him how he was going to address the situation. Insiders claim that Kimmel told them he was not going to back down, he was going to defend what he said, and not “kowtow” to Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters.Iger and Walden hoped the issue would die down, but things only got worse when FCC Chair Brendan Carr went on a conservative podcast to say that Disney and Iger could do things “the easy way or the hard way.” After that, Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcasting — two of the largest owners of ABC affiliate stations — announced they would immediately remove Jimmy Kimmel Live! from every station they owned.It was after that that Disney and ABC decided to suspend the show. Critics have warned that Disney’s decision and Carr’s threats could have a “cooling effect” on the media as a whole.Do you agree with what Michael Eisner had to say about the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!? How do you think Bob Iger and Dana Walden should have handled the situation? Do you think that it is up to large corporations like Disney to stand up against threats to free speech? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!The post Former Disney CEO Slams Bob Iger’s Leadership After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension appeared first on Inside the Magic.