Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger on Monday shot back at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis amid an escalating tussle over the company’s political positions and its ability to self-govern its expansive resorts in the Sunshine State, according to The L-A Times.
The dispute has been simmering since Disney took a public stand a year ago on Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation that bans public school discussions about sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. After Disney’s then-chief, Bob Chapek, said the company opposed the bill, DeSantis lashed out, leading an effort to strip the company’s self-governing powers for its parks in central Florida.
During Disney’s annual meeting of shareholders Monday, Iger acknowledged the tensions with DeSantis, which one Florida investor worried might continue to reverberate throughout the state. Iger described the governor as being “very angry with the position Disney took.”
“A company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do,” Iger said. “It seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us.”
Earlier Monday, the Republican governor ordered an investigation into whether Disney had colluded to illegally bypass a new state law that sought to strip the entertainment company of its governing authority in a 43-square-mile region that is home to Walt Disney World, Epcot and other resorts. In 1967, in an effort to lure the company to the state, Florida granted Disney sweeping powers over its land use.
DeSantis seized on the dust-up with Disney, accusing Disney of being a “woke” corporation. The governor, who is widely expected to run for president, rallied political supporters, saying “Florida is where woke goes to die.”
Iger took issue with the formation of the new board to oversee Disney’s properties, saying it appeared designed “to seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right.”
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