Last month, Isaac Perlmutter’s removal as chairman of Marvel Entertainment marked the end of an era. One one hand, Perlmutter deserves credit for helping to rescue Marvel from bankruptcy when he first joined the House of Ideas in 1997. But his history of controversial business maneuvers — which allegedly include refusing to greenlight any Marvel Studios films headlined by women or characters of color — is leading many observers to view his exit as a good thing. Regardless, Disney CEO Bob Iger insists that the decision to let Perlmutter was all in the interest in making his studio a more well-oiled machine.
Disney is in the midst of a company-wide initiative to cut $5.5 billion in costs. And unfortunately for Perlmutter, he found himself on the losing end of that campaign, getting laid off alongside thousands of other studio employees. During a new sit-down with TIME, Iger explained how it was unnecessary to have two separate Marvel divisions. This is why Marvel Entertainment is closing down and diverting Perlmutter’s responsibilities elsewhere.
“This was a necessary step in the direction of us creating a more efficient company,” said Iger. “There was redundancy specific to the way Marvel was being managed.”
RELATED: Disney Lays Off Marvel Entertainment’s Isaac Perlmutter
Iger also addressed rumors that Perlmutter was axed because of his support for Nelson Peltz, who attempted to get a seat on the Disney board earlier this year. In fact, Perlmutter himself seems confident that this is the reason why he was fired. In a statement issued following his ouster, Perlmutter affirmed his belief that “my termination was based on fundamental differences in business between my thinking and Disney leadership, because I care about return on investment.” But Iger claims that one has nothing to do with the other.
“This decision would have been made regardless of that,” added Iger.
What do you think about Iger’s explanation for Perlmutter’s removal? Let us know in the comment section below!
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