Disney recently presented at the 2026 Upfront event at the Javits Center in New York. This event is where streamers unveil looks at upcoming shows and events that advertisers can pay to have ad spots featured in.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro tried to talk about how valuable the Disney Brand is, saying Disney is in a “category of one” and talking about the hundred years of trust.
“The thing is, you cannot acquire a hundred years of trust. You can’t put generations of belonging on a balance sheet. Disney is part of people’s lives in a way few brands have ever been. And in a world of infinite choice and constant distraction, that kind of presence is rare and getting rarer.”
While D’Amaro was out there leveraging nostalgia and “trust” to win over the money people, Jimmy Kimmel seemed to be doing the opposite.
As part of the upfront event, Kimmel entertained the advertisers and media with some jokes that don’t paint Disney in the same light D’Amaro seemed to want to present it in.
D’Amaro said other streamers and studios wished they were Disney because Disney was smarter and got ahead sooner. Kimmel roasted Disney for being stupid enough to hire him.
“I cost our company a lot of money this year, billions. It is very possible that no employee in the history of any company has cost their employer more than hiring me 24 years ago. Just from a purely mathematical standpoint, it was the worst personnel decision that Disney Corporation has ever made. Not even the captain of the Exxon Valdez did more damage.”
He went on to talk about how bad his ratings are. Even with them up 25%, they would have been considered terrible compared to his predecessor in the early 2000s,
“Largely thanks to our partners in Washington, we are up 25 percent among viewers … it’s a big deal to have your numbers go up nowadays. With that said, if Johnny Carson woke up one day with my ratings, he’d have gone straight under the sink and chugged all the Drain-O.”
When Disney is trying hard to win over money people by showing their services were superior, having their late-night host talk about how bad his ratings are and how much money he’s cost Disney was probably not the best way to go about it.
But wait there’s more,
“I’ve had four bosses [at ABC] — Bob, Bob, Bob and [current Disney CEO] Josh. Josh D’Amaro. As in, all the shows you saw earlier will be canceled d’amaro.”
Then, to top it all off he jokes about making the Super Bowl halftime show white again,
“This will be the first Super Bowl on ABC in 20 years, and we are going to milk the bejesus out of it… And let me tell you what the halftime show this year is going to be: The whitest shit you’ve ever seen. Goodbye, Bad Bunny. Welcome back, O-Town.”
I have to wonder if he is trying to get fired or out of his contract early?
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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