Nelson Peltz and Trian Partners have found backing in advisory firm Egan-Jones ahead of Disney’s April 3 shareholders meeting. How will Iger and co. strike back? Also, why in the world was former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel briefly hired at NBC? Kim Masters and Matt Belloni investigate.
Disney too “woke?” As advisory firm Egan-Jones is advising Disney shareholders to vote Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo onto the company’s board of directors, Peltz continues to blast Disney’s “woke” film strategy. “[He] was giving an interview to the Financial Times saying things like, ‘why do they have to make a movie with all black people?’ Honestly, I don't know what some of these people are thinking, but okay,” Masters says.
NBC staff fights back? Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel is now officially a former NBC News contributor just days after news of her hiring sparked outrage among NBC staff. “It was pretty clear that this decision was not going to fly. They very quickly reneged on that $300,000 a year contract. [The contract] was two years, she'll probably get paid out. She made one appearance, which means she'll probably get paid $600,000 for one appearance on TV,” Belloni explains.
But why her? Due to a lack of faith in media amongst conservative voters, network executives are attempting to grasp as wide of an reach as possible. “They're trying to bring in voices that speak to that audience,” Belloni says. “We saw it at CNN where they got rid of some people like Don Lemon and tried to bring in more conservative voices. But the fatal fundamental mistake here is that there is a difference between conservative voices and someone who actively participated in trying to overturn the election.”