Disney Boss Bob Iger Says They Backed Out of Twitter Purchase Because "the Nastiness Is Extraordinary"

One of the things that the Walt Disney Co. has become known for are its acquisitions. Under CEO Robert Iger, the House of Mouse has made some major moves, including the purchase of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and most recently, 21st Century Fox this year for a staggering $71.3 billion. But there is one acquisition that Disney planned to make that ultimately never happened because of what Iger describes as "extraordinary" nastiness -- Twitter.

In an interview with The New York Times in support of his memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, which comes out on Monday, September 23, Iger explained that the 2017 plan for Disney to acquire Twitter, which was intended as a way to modernize distribution, ended up not happening due to the troubles associated with the social media platform.

"The troubles were greater than I wanted to take on, greater than I thought it was responsible for us to take on," Iger said. "There were Disney brand issues, the whole impact of technology on society. The nastiness is extraordinary. I like looking at my Twitter newsfeed because I want to follow 15, 20 different subjects. Then you turn and look at your notifications and you're immediately saying, why am I doing this? Why do I endure this pain?"

The idea that Twitter isn't exactly the most pleasant of places is one that most people who have encountered the platform is likely one they're familiar with. Just recently, Twitter made headlines for its suspension of thousands of accounts as part of the platform's continued effort to stop the spread of disinformation on the site as well as for its new controversial feature that allows users to hide replies, functionally allowing users to control what replies are visible. It's a move that's meant to help neutralize heated conversations, but some critics have expressed concern that the tool could be used to reinforce specific viewpoints or even aid in misinformation.

For Iger, the potential for Twitter to cause harm ultimately outweighed the potential good.

"Like a lot of these platforms, they have the ability to do a lot of good in our world," he said. "They also have an ability to do a lot of bad. I didn't want to take that on."

What do you think about Disney ultimately not buying Twitter? Let us know in the comments below.