Free Republic

News broke that former Vice President Joe Biden was actually considering Chinese communist-sympathizing Walt Disney Company Executive Chairman Robert Iger to become the U.S. ambassador to China. This potential appointment was enough to set Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on the warpath against Disney’s ridiculous history of appeasing the Chinese government.

President Donald Trump wants to create a safe public space for ugly, unvarnished, unambiguous racism, which he knows he can exploit for political advantage. This cynical and destructive ploy must not be allowed to succeed. But since Tuesday, there has been not a word of censure for Barr's vile "joke" portraying Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, as the result if "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby." Disney pulled the plug on 'Roseanne.' It's on the rest of us to pull the plug on racism Disney pulled the plug on 'Roseanne.' It's on...

Chinese officials have summoned top American tech executives to Seattle for a forum on Wednesday in a show of force that could make the Obama administration’s standing in Silicon Valley appear weak by comparison. Beijing moved up the date of the annual event to coincide with President Xi Jinping’s U.S. visit and reportedly pressured major Silicon Valley players to send their chief executives to what is normally an annual summit for midlevel management, threatening regulatory scrutiny if they didn’t comply. “It’s not really voluntary,” said Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Jason Healey, a former director of cyber infrastructure protection at the...

WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Walt Disney Company has edited out of the webcast version of its March 10 annual shareholder meeting an incident in which Disney CEO Robert Iger dropped the "f-bomb" on conservative activist and Disney investor Tom Borelli. Iger scowled at and said "f--- you" to Tom Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, at Tuesday's annual Disney shareholder meeting after Borelli told shareholders about Iger's refusal to sell the DVD or the distribution rights of the miniseries "The Path to 9/11." Borelli, who was attending the meeting on behalf of the...

Yes, that was Arnold Schwarzenegger on ESPN last night doing commentary from the booth at the Chargers-Raiders game. It was a remarkable bit of free publicity for Schwarzenegger amid his re-election campaign. There is perhaps some synergy here that smoothed the way for the governor's Howard Cosell moment. Schwarzenegger is friendly with Robert Iger, the president and CEO of Disney, which owns ESPN. And he has a long relationship with the giant media company. There is no requirement for ESPN to give Phil Angelides equal time, unlike other broadcast shows. News and public affairs programs (yes, sports is considered news)...

1. In 2003, with Ronald Reagan suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease, CBS pulled a particularly nasty docudrama about him – not in response to any threats from Republican politicians, but due to immense public pressure. Among the scenes in the version that was originally scheduled to air was one that showed Nancy Reagan begging her husband to help AIDS patients, only to be told, "They that live in sin shall die in sin." Elizabeth Egloff, the playwright who wrote the script, admitted that there was no evidence such a conversation took place. No Republican politician ever asked that the show...

On the matter of ABC’s “Path to 9/11” and the controversy it has produced, I have no inside knowledge of what ABC intends to do tomorrow night, but I am considering two things: 1. in all fairness I do not agree with the grouping of several real incidents into one fictitious incident and putting fake dialogue in the mouths of real people as this film is reported to do. I think former President Clinton, former Secretary Albright, former National Security Advisor (and convicted felon) Sandy Berger, along with others in the Clinton Administration, were completely incompetent

Shocking /sarc

Excerpt - LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Walt Disney Co. is reported to be in serious talks to buy Pixar Animation Studios for slightly more than the $6.7 billion that Pixar already is worth. The deal between Walt Disney Co.(DIS)and Pixar Animation Studios(PIXR)would leave Pixar CEO Steve Jobs as Disney's largest individual stockholder, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. Jobs also is head of Apple Computer(AAPL). The report said Disney is negotiating to pay a "nominal" premium to Pixar's current $6.7 billion market capitalization. Both sides accept that Pixar's stock price has a takeover premium built in after...

Walt Disney Co.'s board is expected to name President Robert Iger as its new chief executive shortly, according to a person familiar with the situation. Mr. Iger would succeed longtime chief Michael Eisner, who has announced plans to step down. Disney's board met late Saturday to discuss the CEO search and could announce Mr. Iger's promotion as early as Sunday. The leading external contender in the succession battle, EBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman, withdrew her candidacy for the position Friday. Having been stripped of his chairman title after a shareholder revolt last year, Mr. Eisner announced plans to depart...

Feb. 28 issue - Dan Glickman isn't exactly the Hollywood type. More comfortable in pinstripes than Prada, he's a former Clinton Agriculture secretary, Kansas congressman and president of the Witchita school board—and nothing like the flashy, debonair Jack Valenti, the legendary head of the Motion Picture Association of America. After 38 years at the MPAA, Valenti has become a celebrity in his own right, landing his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But as Glickman heads toward his first Academy Awards since taking over for Valenti as the industry's chief lobbyist, he's the one schmoozing Hollywood directors and...

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 — The Walt Disney Company announced several changes today to its board, including one that could reduce the influence of a chief critic of Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive. Disney also said it was lowering its 2002 earnings estimate because of the disastrous performance of the animated "Treasure Planet," which cost $140 million to make but took in only $17 million at domestic theaters over the holiday weekend. As part of the boardroom changes, Disney will add a new independent director, Robert Matschullat, a former Wall Street banker and top media company executive. It will...

Filed at 6:41 p.m. ET NEW YORK (AP) -- ABC's owners and ``Nightline'' host Ted Koppel have reached a detente of sorts, with the network agreeing to keep the late-night news show in its time slot for at least two more years. Robert Iger, president of ABC parent Walt Disney Co., issued a statement Monday promising to ``renew and reaffirm our support for `Nightline,' one of the network's signature programs.'' The two decade-old news program was threatened by ABC's strong bid to lure David Letterman. His talk show would have supplanted ``Nightline'' in the 11:35 p.m. time slot, but Letterman...