Ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek says in new book sniper Bob Iger sabotaged him: It pisses me off

Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek is accusing Bob Iger of sabotaging his brief run atop the House of Mouse — portraying his onetime mentor as a “sniper” and writing of his ouster, “In truth, it pisses me off.”Chapek writes in his forthcoming memoir that Iger had “an intentional and preconceived role in abruptly ending my ride as Disney CEO” — Iger handpicked Chapek to succeed him as top exec but came back to the job after Chapek got axed less than three years into the gig.“I didn’t get a chance to finish what I started,” Chapek writes in “Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth,” which is scheduled for release next Tuesday.“In truth, it pisses me off.”The notion that Iger worked behind the scenes to undermine his successor is hardly new.Iger continued to wield extraordinary influence even after he stepped down as CEO and acted as a sounding board for Disney executives unhappy with Chapek, the Wall Street Journal reported in a post-mortem on Chapek’s 2022 ouster.Now Chapek himself is putting the accusation on the record — and doing so in stark terms.“I believe the real reason I got fired lay with Iger,” Chapek writes in an excerpt from the book.He alleged that Iger — who again retired as Disney CEO earlier this year, paving the way for Josh D’Amaro to succeed him — began maneuvering to reclaim the top job almost immediately after stepping aside in 2020.He also recounts being blindsided by an April 2020 New York Times report that portrayed Iger as effectively returning to run Disney as the COVID pandemic ravaged the company.Chapek further alleges that Iger wielded his deep relationships with Disney directors, Hollywood producers and other power brokers to undercut his successor.In another striking revelation, Chapek claims it was Iger who took the lead on Disney’s response to Scarlett Johansson’s explosive 2021 lawsuit over the streaming release of “Black Widow.”Chapek writes that Iger appr...