Chapek’s New Book Doesn’t Hold Back on Bob Iger

Bob Chapek’s memoir isn’t out yet, and it’s already generating headlines. The New York Times obtained an early copy of “Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth” and published details on what’s inside; the Bob Chapek book puts his account of his Disney exit on the record for the first time.

The memoir publishes Tuesday, September 29, from Gallery Books.

Everything below comes from the Times’ reporting on that early copy. Chapek’s claims are his own, and a few of them come without supporting evidence, which the Times notes directly.

Quick Summary

• The book: “Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth”
• Publishes: September 29, 2026, from Gallery Books
• The throughline: Chapek doesn’t accept responsibility for his 2022 firing
• Who he blames: Bob Iger, the man who both hired him and replaced him
• On parks pricing: He defends it, citing 18 percent compound annual profit growth
• On Josh D’Amaro: He claims credit for pushing D’Amaro’s promotion
• One claim to treat carefully: An allegation about Iger’s 2020 exit that the Times reports comes with no evidence

Chapek’s Central Argument

According to the Times, the book’s throughline is that Chapek doesn’t accept responsibility for his 2022 firing. He instead points to Bob Iger as the driving force behind his removal. The Times reports Chapek uses the word “disrupter,” or variations of it, 30 times across the book, framing himself as someone who made hard calls that others were unwilling to make.

That framing tells you what kind of memoir this is. It’s a defense, not a reckoning.

The Iger Relationship

The strained relationship between the two former CEOs has been public knowledge for years, but the Times reports the book adds new detail from Chapek’s side.

Chapek claims Iger worked to undercut him with Hollywood executives and people inside Disney, including raising doubts about Chapek’s pandemic-era movie release decisions. Some of those decisions included releasing Black Widow to Disney+ and the fallout with Scarlett Johansson over pay. Similar pay-related issues arose with Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson and their work on Jungle Cruise. In both situations, pay was associated with a percentage of box office sales. Deals that were negotiated without ever knowing the impact of the pandemic.

The Claim That Needs a Caveat

The Times also reports that Chapek questions the circumstances of Iger’s original departure in February 2020.

Iger has said publicly he wanted to step back from parts of the job, including earnings calls, and remained at Disney for two more years overseeing creative work.

The Times notes Chapek offers an alternate account, claiming unnamed sources in government and business told him Iger’s exit was tied to advance knowledge of the pandemic. The Times reports this claim comes with no evidence attached, and Disney has previously denied that this applies to Iger’s decision.

Treat that one as an allegation in a memoir, not as established fact. It’s exactly the kind of claim that generates headlines precisely because it can’t be checked.

He Stands By the Price Increases

Chapek’s parks pricing changes drew significant criticism during his tenure, from higher annual pass costs to new charges for previously free perks like hotel parking and FastPass.

The book doesn’t walk any of it back. Chapek defends the shift toward dynamic, airline-style pricing and cites 18 percent compound annual profit growth during his years running the parks division as evidence it worked.

For park fans, this is the part that lands hardest. Those changes reshaped what a Disney World trip costs, and many of them are still in place under different names. Whether you view that growth figure as vindication or as the problem itself probably depends on how much you paid for your last trip.

Credit for Josh D’Amaro

The Times reports Chapek also uses the book to claim credit for Josh D’Amaro’s rise at Disney.

D’Amaro, who worked under Chapek in the parks division, was named Disney’s CEO in February 2026. Chapek writes that he pushed for D’Amaro’s promotion back when D’Amaro was still a relative unknown at the company.

That’s a notable thing to put in print while D’Amaro is sitting in the CEO chair.

His Indiana Roots

The Times says the book returns repeatedly to Chapek’s upbringing as the son of a machinist in small-town Indiana, framing it as the source of an outsider’s instinct that Hollywood underestimated.

The Times points to his account of pushing for direct-to-video animated sequels in the 1990s, a strategy he credits with keeping the studio profitable despite internal resistance.

Why Park Fans Should Care

This isn’t just corporate gossip. Chapek’s tenure produced some of the most consequential changes to the Walt Disney World experience in decades:

• Paid line-skipping, which replaced free FastPass
• Park reservations, which added a planning step that still exists in modified form for Annual Passholders
• Resort parking fees and other charges for previously included perks
• Annual Pass restructuring that changed what passholders get

A book that defends those decisions rather than reconsidering them gives you the clearest look yet at the reasoning behind changes you still feel on every trip.

What’s Next

“Behind the Castle Walls” is out September 29. Based on what the Times has reported, the book looks set to be a direct, unfiltered account of Chapek’s three years running Disney, covering the pandemic shutdown, Walt Disney World’s reopening, the fallout from Florida’s HB 1557, and his eventual replacement by Iger.

Expect more excerpts and interviews between now and publication day, and expect Disney to say very little in response.

The Bottom Line

The Bob Chapek book lands September 29, and the Times’ early read shows a memoir that blames Bob Iger for his 2022 removal, defends the parks pricing strategy with an 18 percent profit growth figure, and claims credit for Josh D’Amaro’s rise.

Read it as one side of a contested story. The pricing chapter is the one park fans will be most frustrated about for the longest time.

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Meet the Author: Nate Bishop

I’m a die-hard Disney fan with 38 years of visits under my belt, having stepped into Disney World 120+ times. Proud to be a Disney Annual Passholder, a Vacation Club member since ’92, a Castaway Club Member, and a runDisney enthusiast. Oh, and I’ve graduated from the Disney College of Knowledge. Need Disney insights or planning tips? I’m your guy!