Nate Bargatze Inspired By Walt Disney But Says Disney Is Now “Run By A Guy That’s Just A Businessman” Who “Doesn’t Care About The Audience”

Nate Bargatze plans to build a media empire and finds inspiration in Walt Disney, as he says he cared about his customers.

In a new interview, the comedian opened up about his aspirations as he looks past stand-up comedy. In 2023, Bargatze launched The Nateland Company, a family-friendly content company for audiences of all ages, through which he’ll produce stand-up comedy specials, showcases, sketches, scripted episodic content for film and television, podcasts, music, and more.

When asked by Esquire who has influenced him, he cites Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Judd Apatow, and Walt Disney. Bargatze was inspired by the values on which The Walt Disney Company was founded. However, he doesn’t think the current company adheres to those same values now.

“Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman,” he told the publication. “Well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience.”

The comedian noted that he cares about the audience, adding, “None of this happens without them.”

Bargatze is even considering building a theme park in Nashville, which he would call Nateland, saying, “I’ll be honest with you, I bet we’re closer than people think, but it’s still a little bit of a ways off.”

The comedian was recently confirmed to be hosting the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS. Bargatze’s comedy shows have sold more than 1.2 million tickets around the world in 2024. He hosted SNL for the second time last fall.

Bargatze recently opened up about retiring from stand-up, telling The New York Times, “I don’t plan on touring and doing stand-up forever. I want to make movies. People can think, If you get too big, are you going to change? The audience is very much in mind with everything that I will make. Again, I try not to do it for me. It’s for you. I want them to be able to trust that.”