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Disney’s Josh D’Amaro On The Biggest Opportunities As CEO & Why Other Media Companies “Are Trying To Look Like Disney”

Published

1 day ago

August 16, 2026

Josh D’Amaro attended his first D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, having succeeded Bob Iger five months ago.

On Day 3 of the Disney event, D’Amaro had a sit down with Ginnifer Goodwin where he opened up about the future of Disney and how it’s been for him as the new CEO of the company.

For starters, the executive says “it’s still strange” for people to refer to him as CEO “because I’ve been here for 30 years,” adding, “I started at an entry-level position at Disneyland in 1998.”

“I loved Disney growing up,” he said. “I visited the parks with my family. I remember those moments so clearly. They truly have stuck with me. I’ve been a fan first for my entire life, and then to come and actually work for the company — the moment I got inside the walls, it’s cool to be working for Disney.”

D’Amaro gave a shoutout to the cast members and “the leaders behind the scenes,” who “care about this place, care about the company, care about the fans in a real, genuine way. To be here at D23, it takes a lot of work to pull an event like this, but to see the fandom, to see the rewards of all the hard work that’s been put into making these places and making these stories as special as they are, there’s nothing like it.”

In terms of opportunities that D’Amaro considers for the future of the company he said there are several important things that are important to him at the highest level.

“First is that we are a company that tells the world’s best stories, and we will never — I will never relent on that,” he explained. “So, making sure that we’re making great films like Zootopia, making sure that we’re making the next attraction that just blows people away, the next Broadway show that pulls people in. As simple as it sounds, that has to be the focus of all leaders, quite frankly, at the Disney Company.”

D’Amaro also pointed that currently the industry is at the “intersection of technology and media,” adding, “I don’t think it’s ever been more relevant and more powerful. And this company, the Walt Disney Company, has always thrived in these moments, all the way back to to Walt as he was thinking about film and how to change how films are made, or Disneyland and animatronics.”

He continued, “We’re in this moment where I want to push in to the technology that’s available to us, marry it with this beautiful story making, and push the company forward.”

Lastly, D’Amaro noted that the Walt Disney Company is an accumulation of different things, wether it’s ESPN, a streamer, a theme park, and a film producer.

“We’re the Walt Disney Company, and for anyone that’s looking around contextually at the entertainment landscape right now, it kind of looks like people are trying to look like Disney,” he said. “They’ll try to buy some of this stuff and that stuff. And for us, we have all of that. We have the the best IP in the world. We have the best collection of businesses in the world. We have scale around the globe like nobody else has, and we have talent that everyone wishes they had. So if we now pull this whole company together in one, and show up as one company wherever that is-Disney+, or in a theme park, or at a place like D23-no one can compete with us. There’s nothing like the Walt Disney Company where we can operate as one.”

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Connie Britton Pays Tribute To ‘Nashville’ Co-Star Hayden Panettiere

Published

5 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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Following her breakout role as cheerleader Claire Bennett on NBC’s Heroes, Hayden Panettiere in 2012 was cast as the co-lead opposite Connie Britton in the ABC country music drama Nashville.

Following Panettiere’s passing at the age of 36, Britton posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram.

“This was Hayden. Bursting with brilliance, shining so bright,” Britton wrote next to carousel of photos from Nashville. “I have no words for this sad song. Just heartbreak. I love you girl. Sleep easy now. 💔”

Panettiere was actually the first of the two leads to be cast in the show, joined later by the Friday Night Lights star.

The series centered on 40-year-old Nashville superstar Rayna James (Britton) who is stunned to find that her star is fading and her label requires her to team up with teen sensation Juliette Barnes (Panettiere) on tour–or else face the loss of her own tour and the label’s promotion of her latest record, whose sales have been underwhelming.

It was the dynamic between Rayna and Juliette and the chemistry Britton and Panettiere that made Nashville a hit.

In later seasons, the show, which moved from ABC to CMT after four years, chronicled Juliette’s struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and postpartum depression, all issues Panettiere had been dealing with in real life. She admitted in interviews that doing the storyline that mirrored her experiences was traumatizing.

Panettiere had a rocky tenure on Nashville. Her addiction problems would spiral, impacting production. Meanwhile, she felt that the show did not have her back.

“It’s just shocking to me how little empathy people had,” she said of Nashville a couple of months ago while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published this past May. “There were plenty of people who made the choice to not protect me.”

When it came to Britton, Panettiere always had nice things to say, calling her “amazing,” “so supportive” and “just a class act.”

“Just being able to be on screen with her, I was honored,” Panettiere told EW last year.

Nashville came from Lionsgate, which co-produced the series with ABC Studios.

“Lionsgate and the entire Nashville family mourn the tragic passing of Hayden Panettiere, a singular talent who brought so much life, radiance and conviction to the role of Juliette Barnes,” the indie studio, said in a statement. “Her unflinching and nuanced portrayal of a rising star ingenue captivated millions of fans around the world for six wonderful seasons. She has left us far too young, but we are richer for the gifts she shared with us in the many film and television roles she inhabited with so much grace and vitality. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends.”

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New Yorker’s Ariel Levy To Join ’60 Minutes’ As A Contributor

Published

13 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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Ariel Levy, a staff writer at The New Yorker, is joining CBS News‘ 60 Minutes as a contributor.

Executive Producer Nick Bilton wrote, “Ariel is an astonishingly original writer and reporter, fearlessly going to far-flung places and exploring sensitive topics that have driven consequential debates. For nearly three decades, first at New York magazine and then at The New Yorker, she has reported on culture, gender, sexuality, health and the people and ideas shaping modern life in a way that is entirely unique.”

Levy will be the newest addition to the newsmagazine after an overhaul in May, which saw the executive producer replaced and three correspondents fired, including Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Scott Pelley.

Last month, Bilton announced the hiring of Ross Douthat as correspondent, and Sebastian Junger, Trevor Phillips and Gianna Toboni as contributors. Norah O’Donnell will be a correspondent after contributing to the show.

Levy is the author of a memoir, The Rules Do Not Apply, and Female Chauvinist Pigs, about the rise of raunch culture. She also hosted the podcast The Just Enough Family.

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Lakers Sale: Buss Family Sells Remaining Stake To Bob Iger & Josh Kushner

Published

21 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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Bob Iger was feted like a Disney Prince at D23 this past weekend, but the ex-CEO real starturn looks to be scoring an even greater stake in the L.A. Lakers today.

With longtime owners the Buss family voting to tag along with Iger and Josh Kushner’s $12.5 billion purchase last week of the NBA team from Mark Walter, the former House of Mouse boss and brother of Donald Trump‘s number #1 son-in-law now own 83% of the Lakers.

That’s a 17.8% rise over the 65% or so the duo had last week when the purchase off Dodgers shareholder Walter was made public after a frantic 72-hours of bartering.

Kushner’s Thrive Capital did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on enlarged ownership. However, the Buss family were court side with a statement of their own Monday.

“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss’ said today to ESPN (which Iger used to lord over) after four out of the six siblings voted for the sale. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

As viewers of HBO‘s two-season Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty know, Dr. Jerry Buss bought the team (plus the L.A. Kings and the Forum itself) in 1979 and brought some Tinseltown magic (+ Magic Johnson) to the NBA. Under the Buss family, with patriarch Jerry passing away in 2013, the Lakers snagged 11 NBA Championships. Last year, the family sold control of the organization to Walter for $10 billion. Under investigation for alleged dodgy finances, Walter flipped the team to franchise seeking Iger and Kushner almost as fast as a Kobe lay-up.

Under both Walter and it seemed Iger and Kushner, Jeanie Buss remained a governor of the team. “We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told Rupert Murdoch’s The California Post on August “And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”

That era comes to an end now as NBA rules demand a governor has to own at least 15% of a team.