Former Disney chief executive Bob Chapek is preparing to tell his side of one of the most turbulent leadership episodes in the company’s recent history. His forthcoming memoir, ‘Behind the Castle Walls: My 30 Years at the Happiest Place on Earth’, will revisit his three-decade career at Disney and the behind-the-scenes power struggles surrounding his brief tenure as chief executive.

The book is scheduled to be published on 29 September by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. According to the publisher’s description, Chapek plans to address the “high-stakes manoeuvrings” that unfolded between his appointment as CEO in 2020 and his removal from the position in 2022.

Chapek spent nearly 30 years at Disney before reaching its highest executive position. He joined the company in 1993 and held senior roles across home entertainment, consumer products and theme parks before succeeding Bob Iger as chief executive in February 2020.

His promotion came at an extraordinarily difficult moment. Only weeks after taking control, the Covid-19 pandemic forced Disney to shut theme parks, suspend cruises and confront major disruption across its film and television businesses. Chapek was therefore tasked with steering one of the world’s biggest entertainment companies through a crisis almost immediately after taking the job.

Yet his problems extended well beyond the pandemic. His leadership increasingly attracted criticism over corporate strategy, relations with creative executives and Disney’s handling of political controversies. The circumstances became even more complicated because Iger, despite stepping down as CEO, remained an influential figure around the company during part of Chapek’s tenure.

Chapek’s position appeared secure in June 2022 when Disney’s board extended his contract for another three years. Less than five months later, however, the company removed him and brought Iger back as chief executive in a dramatic reversal.

That extraordinary sequence is expected to be one of the central subjects of ‘Behind the Castle Walls’. The memoir promises Chapek’s perspective on what happened during the transition, how decisions were made inside Disney and how his relationship with Iger evolved as pressures mounted.

The book arrives at an interesting moment for Disney itself. The company has since undergone another leadership transition, with former parks chief Josh D’Amaro taking over as CEO in March 2026 while Iger remains a senior adviser through the end of the year.

Any account of Chapek’s time at Disney is likely to be inseparable from Iger. Chapek inherited a company transformed under his predecessor, who had overseen acquisitions including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and much of 21st Century Fox while also launching Disney+. Their succession, however, became one of the most closely scrutinised corporate handovers in Hollywood.

Iger has since spoken critically about aspects of Chapek’s leadership, including the speed at which changes were made after the transition. Chapek has largely remained quieter about the episode in public, making the memoir particularly significant as an opportunity for him to present his own account of events.

The title ‘Behind the Castle Walls’ makes the book’s intention clear. Disney carefully cultivates an image built around optimism, storytelling and the promise of being “the Happiest Place on Earth”, but Chapek’s memoir is positioned as a look at the corporate tensions operating behind that polished exterior.

That contrast may ultimately be the book’s biggest attraction. Chapek is not simply writing about losing one of the most powerful jobs in entertainment. He is writing about what happened when a carefully planned succession collapsed, his predecessor unexpectedly returned and the public version of Disney’s leadership story became very different from whatever was happening inside the company.

For readers interested in corporate power, Hollywood and leadership battles, Behind the Castle Walls promises something Disney rarely puts on display: the conflict behind the magic.