In reviewing Jeffrey Stepakoff's book Billion-Dollar Kiss, I printed something that Stepakoff credited to an internal memo by Michael Eisner. That quote presented Eisner purely as a mercenary, uninterested in anything besides money.
Commenter David Lemay noted that the quote was not accurate according to Disney War by James B. Stewart and that the quote wasn't even from Eisner's time at Disney. It dates from his time at Paramount. I've since read the relevant portion of Stewart's book and what Lemay said is completely the case.
Because Stepakoff worked at Disney and credits the quote to "an internal memo," the reader is left with the impression that Eisner's memo was sent while at the Disney studio and that Stepakoff received a copy. I have no idea if Stepakoff was aware of the quote being inaccurate or if he intended that impression. However, as I related that quote with the belief that it was accurate, I have to acknowledge that wasn't the case. While I am hardly a fan of Michael Eisner, I am not a fan of distorting the truth even if it bolsters my own prejudices.
You can read the correct version of the quote in David Lemay's comment here.
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3 comments:
Regardless of its context, it's still proof Eisner is a loser.
Actually, I felt the corrected quote made him sound smart. It's obvious he's not an artist, but in that quote he seems more "in touch" with the right attitude for a man who later arrived where he arrived. If the quote was by Roy O. Disney, I doubt you'd call him a "loser".
I would call anyone with the track record of Michael Eisner a loser, regardless of what they said.
Roy O. Disney did not have that track record. So it's a moot point.
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