Returned Disney CEO Bob Iger made a rare public comment about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ moves to “punish” the company for its position against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year, saying the decision “sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida.”
DeSantis signed a bill in February thatstrips Disney of controlover its special governing district in Florida, the home of Disney World, and establishes a successor agency to handle zoning, fire service, infrastructure and utilities at the parks.
Last week, Disney used a legal clause that references King Charles III’s royal line in careful wording that attempts to outmaneuver DeSantis’ move to take control.
On Monday, the New York Times reported DeSantis has asked Florida authorities to investigate the Disney World board.
“It seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us,” Iger said during the company’s annual shareholders meeting Monday, referring to DeSantis’ power struggle with Disney in an attempt “to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right.”
“That seems really wrong to me,” added Iger, who returned to his position as CEO late last year following the ousting of Bob Chapek. (It was under Chapek’s short-lived regime that Disney first responded to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and received backlash for not coming out against it sooner.)
“We’re currently planning now to invest over $17 billion in Disney World over the next 10 years,” Iger said, noting that Disney estimates this will lead to 13,000 new jobs within the company and “thousands of indirect jobs” in the state, thus bringing in more taxes for Florida. Iger says any attempts made by DeSantis to “thwart” these efforts is ultimately detrimental to Florida.
Monday’s shareholders meeting, which included the announcement that Disney is producing a live-action “Moana” remake with Dwayne Johnson, was unusually long, with Iger fielding several follow-up questions related to Disney’s situation in Florida, including why the company took a position against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill at all.
“I don’t think we should or can weigh in on every issue… There are times when I actually believe we shouldn’t. But I strongly feel that we alone have to determine whether, when or how to weigh in on an issue… of course with the standard that when we take a position on those matters, there’s a true reason why we have. And in almost all cases it has to be because it directly affects our business or our people,” Iger said, pointing to companies taking a stand during the Civil Rights movement and World War II. During WWII, he said, “Those that stood in silence in some ways still carry the stain of indifference.”
He added: “As long as I’m in the job, we’ll be guided by a sense of decency and instinct and trust our instinct that when we weigh in, the issue is truly relevant to us and the people we work with.”
Elsewhere during the Q&A, one shareholder aggressively leveled accusations of Disney being an “ideological company” serving an LGBTQ+ message and “woke agenda” with its content at Iger.
“We’ve recently gotten criticism as you just expressed, for what some perceive to be agenda driven content,” Iger said. “And I’m sensitive to that actually. Our primary mission needs to be to entertain and then, through our entertainment, to continue to have a positive impact on the world and I’m very serious about that. It should not be agenda driven. It should be entertainment driven. That should be the goal in all of our stories. And while I know we’re just never going to please everyone all the time, we should be sensitive to the fact that parents have different levels of comfort with the content that is delivered to their children. I want parents to be able to trust the content that we’re creating for their children. And we’re committed to delivering age-appropriate content for family audiences, while also telling stories that reflect the world around us and that foster a greater understanding, greater perspective, greater acceptance of all people. I just my hope that Disney continues to be a source of hope and optimism for the world. And we’re honored to actually carry forth Walt’s legacy of inspiring joy and wonder for everyone.”
The results of the shareholder votes conducted for the meeting are as follows:
Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation — 86% for
Shareholder Proposal, Report on China — 89% against
Shareholder Proposal, Charitable Contributions Disclosure — 92% against
Shareholder Proposal: Political Expenditures Report — 63% against
