Former Disney CEO faces flak after saying 'beautiful, funny women' are hard to find in Hollywood

On-stage at a festival that advertises itself as the “premier” gathering place to engage in thoughtful ideas and issues that challenge our times, 73-year old former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, said that its difficult to find beautiful and funny women in the film industry.

During a discussion between actress Goldie Hawn and Eisner at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Thursday, Eisner suggested why Hawn was a unique player in the field of female artists  in Hollywood.

“From my position, the hardest artist to find is a beautiful, funny woman,” he said, according to this Atlantic article . “By far. They usually—boy am I going to get in trouble, I know this goes online—but usually, unbelievably beautiful women, you being an exception, are not funny.”

The comments quickly prompted female celebrity reaction on Twitter by Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Banks and Megan Allison.

Stop spreading this bullshit. https://t.co/j1oqdHLsue

— Elizabeth Banks ❄️ (@ElizabethBanks) July 4, 2015

The Hollywood Reporter,   reported that after the backlash Eisner sent in a note stating: “In the context of a public conversation with Goldie Hawn in which I was complimenting her on being both beautiful and funny, I said such a combination is hard to come by in Hollywood. I certainly did not say Goldie was the only one. My point was simply that Goldie, unlike many, has not been defined exclusively as one or the other.”