The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Jennifer Saba

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bob Iger stepped into the mess he was meant to clean up. After yanking late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel off the air amid political pressure, the Walt Disney DIS.N chief executive has now reversed course. Iger swooped back to the Mouse House three years ago in large part to smooth over a similar crisis entangling his successor, Bob Chapek. It falls to Chair James Gorman to figure out who, at long last, will run the Magic Kingdom. That mission has now become much more urgent.

Iger and deputy Dana Walden – a top candidate for the CEO post – pulled Kimmel from his slot on Disney-owned network ABC last week, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move came after local broadcast groups said they would interrupt "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" following the host’s comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. They did so shortly after Brendan Carr, chief regulator of the nation’s airwaves, took exception.

The backlash was fierce. More than 400 Hollywood stars, including Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston, condemned muzzling the comedian. Consumers followed their lead, resulting in a wave of cancelled Disney+ subscriptions, the New York Times reported, just as the company on Tuesday announced it is jacking up prices. Former Magic Kingdom head honcho Michael Eisner even weighed in, asking "Where has all the leadership gone?"

It's an apt question. The sore spot of Iger’s stewardship has been figuring out who will hold the reins for the long term. The week’s events echo the mess that snared his original pick. Chapek, molded as Iger’s heir, raised the ire of employees and customers by staying silent about a law prohibiting school discussions of LGBTQ issues in Florida, home of Disney World. A subsequent apology did little to placate critics – including Iger, who tweeted from the sidelines – or prevent lawsuits, including from Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The firestorm, along with the company’s business woes, ended Chapek’s tenure.

Disney named Gorman as chair last year, stating that his mandate was to find Iger’s successor by early 2026. The former Morgan Stanley boss seemed the ideal choice after seamlessly handing over leadership at the investment bank, no mean feat on Wall Street. The time has come to prove his worth. Sinclair Broadcast Group SBGI.O and Nexstar Media NXST.O still refuse to budge: their TV stations, covering 20% of the country including major cities like Washington, did not air Kimmel's returning monologue. Despite a recent uptick, Disney shares have seen so-so performance for years. The primetime drama in the media giant’s C-suite is heading for its season finale.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Walt Disney on September 23 aired "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after saying it would pre-empt the late-night talk show indefinitely the week prior. Disney, which owns broadcast network ABC, pulled the program after two local TV station groups said they were suspending the show over Kimmel's comments regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel, saying on a podcast that "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." One of the local broadcast groups, Nexstar Media, is waiting for the FCC to approve a $6.2 billion deal with rival Tegna.

(Editing by Jonathan Guilford; Production by Maya Nandhini )

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on SABA/jennifer.saba@thomsonreuters.com))