Disney CEO calls Florida Governor’s retaliation against Disney “anti-business”

Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney Co, recently had a clash with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. After Disney recently tool a position on legislation, the Governor allegedly retaliated against the company, and now, Disney’s CEO fired back, calling the Governor’s move “anti-business.”

Disney clashes with the Governor of Florida over a recent bill

The legislation in question is the Parental Rights in Education Act, and initially, Disney attempted to stay neutral and not get involved. However, after a time, it decided to step in anyway and publicly oppose the act, which has popularly become known among its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. They call it that as its intention is to restrict discussions involving sexual orientation and gender identity in the classrooms, which many view as limiting their freedom of speech.

However, after Disney made its position clear, DeSantis and the Florida legislature made a move against it, seeking to eliminate the virtual autonomy that the company had over a 24,000-acre parcel around the Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney’s CEO addressed the situation during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, noting that the company might not have handled its position on the bill well. However, he still insisted that corporations have just as much right to express their opinions and stances as everyone else. This is why he believes that DeSantis’ move is an open retaliation against Disney.

He said that seeking to punish a company that simply exercised its constitutional right seems wrong. Furthermore, he noted that Disney has over 75,000 employees in the state, and it expect to see over 50 million people visit Disney World this year alone. With that said, the company’s idea was to deepen its investment in Florida, and spend another $17 billion during the next decade. The move would also create 13,000 more job openings for the locals.

He concluded by saying that the Governor’s efforts to retaliate against the company for voicing its official stance is not just anti-business, but anti-Florida as well.

Disney is usurping the authority, claims Florida’s Governor

Earlier this year, in February, Florida lawmakers supported a bill that granted the Governor effective control of a board in charge of overseeing development in the special taxation district. The governor quickly signed the bill, making it an official law, and he then named five supervisors to monitor the area where Disney previously had a high degree of autonomy.

Before the Governor’s retaliation, Disney was limiting the board’s action for decades. DeSanis even requested that Florida’s inspector general investigates Disney and it’s supposed attempts to usurp the new board’s authority. According to him, Disney’s collusive and self-dealing arrangements seek to nullify the legislation and undercut the state’s legislative process, thus defying the will of Florida’s people.

Meanwhile, during the Disney’s shareholder meeting, one of the attendees criticized the company, stating that it went from “a place of magic for children” to an “ideological company serving the LGBTQ community and promoting a woke agenda.” Iger noted that he was sensitive to such criticism, and that Disney’s goal is to entertain and make a positive impact on the world.