Disney CEO Bob Iger has finally hit back at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—who has lambasted the entertainment giant nonstop over the last two years—and fingered the Republican as “anti-Florida” and “anti-business” in a shareholder meeting on Monday.
The comments came just as DeSantis announced a probe into Disney after its lawyers embarrassed him last week—quietly stripping his hand-picked advisory board of most of its powers in overseeing Disney's self-governing Reedy Creek Improvement District.
It's the latest in a saga of clashes between Disney, a company that has largely plugged away in silence, and DeSantis, who's repeatedly used Mickey Mouse as a punching bag as he gears up for a 2024 presidential run.
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The nasty feud began simmering in 2021, when Disney voiced opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill—legislation that's since been passed and has limited the discussion of gender and sexual orientation in schools.
“Any action that supports those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida,” Iger said Monday, referencing DeSantis’ reaction to Disney's opposition of the bill. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
Iger also reiterated that Disney has the right to differ ideologically from the governor and operate without consequence. He emphasized Disney is the state's largest private employer and taxpayer, and that it plans to spend more than $17 billion over the next decade that'd generate thousands of jobs for Floridians.
“A company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do,” Iger said.
Disney's plans to grow outside Orlando appear to be unaffected by a slew of accusations written by DeSantis in a letter on Monday. That letter accused Disney of conducting “collusive and self-dealing arrangements [that] aim to nullify the recently passed legislation, undercut Florida’s legislative process, and defy the will of Floridians.”
In that letter, sent by DeSantis to his attorney general, he claimed Disney is guilty of a number of legal violations that included “improper delegation of authority” and “conflicts of interest.”
Florida lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year, at DeSantis’ behest, which allowed the governor's office to select the leadership for Reedy Creek—taking away the power from Disney executives who were given the right to run it as they saw fit for more than 50 years.
But before that new board—packed with DeSantis allies and right-wing conspiracists—could assume control of Reedy Creek, Disney pulled a fast one. The outgoing board passed a series of agreements that ensured Disney maintained power and had the final say on alterations to the property for the foreseeable future.
DeSantis, who'd been parading his “victory” over Disney at stops around the country last month, claims it was these actions that Disney needs to be investigated over.
The governor says Disney operated with “serious legal infirmities” such as inadequate legal notice and ethical violations, and that state law enforcement will lead an investigation to determine whether the outgoing board legally had the right to box out his cronies.
Disney has insisted that all of its board’s maneuvers were completely legal.
Read it at Spectrum News 13
