The Happiest Place on Earth has made one Disney heiress very unhappy.
Abigail Disney, granddaughter of The Walt Disney Company’s co-founder, Roy Disney, told Yahoo News she recently went undercover to Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., after an employee sent her a concerning Facebook message. Roy Disney was Walt Disney’s older brother.
Disney said every employee she met on her visit said low wages make daily life difficult.
“Every single one of these people I talked to were saying, ‘I don’t know how I can maintain this face of joy and warmth when I have to go home and forage for food in other people’s garbage,’ ” the 59-year-old said on Monday’s episode of the Yahoo News podcast “Through Her Eyes.”
Although Disney is not involved in the company herself, she said working conditions there do not reflect her grandfather’s values.
“I was so livid when I came out of there because, you know, my grandfather taught me to revere these people that take your tickets, that pour your soda,” she continued.
This is not the first time the filmmaker and philanthropist has criticized wealth inequality. Along with 20 other members of America’s top 1 percent of earners, she signed a letter in June asking 2020 presidential candidates to raise their taxes.
Disney said the company’s current CEO Robert Iger, who makes about $66 million a year, should respect every one of his workers, no matter their position.
“Bob needs to understand he’s an employee, just the same as the people scrubbing gum off the sidewalk are employees,” Disney said. “And they’re entitled to all the same dignity and human rights that he is.”
The heiress told Yahoo News she wrote “a very long email” to Iger telling him to think more about how his legacy will affect the world.
“[O]ne of the things I said to him was, ‘You know, you’re a great CEO by any measure, perhaps even the greatest CEO in the country right now,’ ” she said. ” ‘You know, your legacy is that you’re a great manager. And if I were you, I would want something better than that. I would want to be known as the guy who led to a better place, because that is what you have the power to do.’”
According to Disney, Iger never responded.
A spokesperson for The Walt Disney Company told Yahoo News the company has programs supporting its employees, citing Disney Aspire, an education initiative, as an example. This program covers 100 percent of all tuition costs, books and fees for workers, and, according to the spokesperson, more than 40 percent of Disney’s hourly employees have signed up.
“Disney is at the forefront of providing workforce education, which is widely recognized as the best way to create economic opportunity for employees and empower upward mobility,” the spokesperson told Yahoo News. “American workers need meaningful change; they deserve smart policies and practical programs, like Disney Aspire, that empower them to achieve their goals and ensure they are part of the most competitive workforce in the world.”
Abigail Disney said the issues at the theme park reveal a systemic problem.
“The system is the problem, and the people inside of the system who are perfectly comfortable with the system are the problem,” Disney told “Through Her Eyes.” “I don’t think any president of the United States has as much power as some CEOs in this country.”
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