Journalist Jim Acosta and former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt on The Jim Acosta Show on September 19, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via The Jim Acosta Show / Substack / YouTube)
Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger is about to see his face plastered on billboards on his way into work every day — with an insult emblazoned on them.
That's according to Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist who co-founded The Lincoln Project in 2019. Schmidt broke the news to ex-CNN host Jim Acosta on the Friday episode of his Substack show as the two were discussing ABC's decision to pull late night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air.
"We will put billboards up in L.A. with Bob Iger's picture, a yellow stripe under it and the word 'COWARD,'" Schmidt said. "It's a billboard town and everyone can reflect on it as they drive by ... the cowardice is appalling."
Earlier this week, ABC (which is owned by Disney) announced it was suspending Kimmel's show "indefinitely" following a threat from FCC chairman Brendan Carr to revoke the broadcast licenses of stations that aired Kimmel's show. Carr issued the threat — in which he said the FCC could go "the hard way or the easy way" in its response — after Kimmel said on the Monday episode of his show that "the MAGA gang" was making efforts to cast the alleged murderer of far-right activist Charlie Kirk as a leftist in order to "score political points."
Schmidt argued that Carr's actions constituted a clear violation of the First Amendment, saying "the government took action to demand the removal of a president's critic." He likened the FCC chair's remark to force media executives to "capitulate to the feelings of Donald Trump."
"Whatever Bob Iger thought his legacy would be, he'll be a villainous cretin in the movies of this time when the record is made about who stood tall and who collaborated, who capitulated," he said. "And the cowardice you're seeing is extraordinary to behold. It's historic. The chilling of speech is very real. The terror is very real. And I just urge people to stand against it. Stand up, up, up."
Kimmel's suspension comes as Disney is seeking the Trump administration's approval for its proposed merger with sports streaming platform Fubo. Disney stands to become one of the largest sports platforms if the deal goes through. The Department of Justice's antitrust division is currently reviewing the proposal to see if it violates anti-monopoly rules.