Bob Iger Resigns From Newsom's Coronavirus Task Force After Disney Lays Off Thousands
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – After overseeing the layoffs of tens of thousands of employees, Bob Iger, the executive chairman of the Walt Disney Company, has stepped down from a California government task force which was established to help navigate the economic issues surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
The 69-year-old Iger resigned from the Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force, the Sacramento Bee reported Thursday.
The move came a few days after Disney confirmed it had laid off about 28,000 employees. About two-third of those were part-time employees at Disney's theme parks in Anaheim and Florida.
Disneyland, California Adventure and all other California amusement parks have been shuttered since the pandemic began in mid-March. Downtown Disney reopened in July.
California's continued "unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen" exacerbated the impact of the pandemic on Disney's parks," Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney's parks, experiences and products division, wrote in a letter this week.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom established the task force back in April to "work to develop actions government and businesses can take to help Californians recover as fast as safely possible from the COVID-19 induced recession."
It includes dozens of leaders from science, business, academics and medicine.
In February, Iger stepped down as CEO of Disney, but remains in the role of chairman.
