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Disney CEO Bob Iger on Thursday pushed back against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his recent comments that the entertainment goliath is adding programming featuring inappropriate sexual content.
“The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children is preposterous and inaccurate,” Iger said during a wide-ranging interview with CNBC.
Last month, DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, said during a town hall that Disney in the past “has been like the all-American company. But they’ve really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the programming for the young kids. And that is just a line that I am not willing to cross.”
In response, Iger added Thursday: “The last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be drawn into any culture wars.”
Iger’s comments are the latest in an ongoing battle between DeSantis and Disney that has intensified in recent months over a Florida measure banning classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity with young children. The feud is further fueled by a lawsuit from Disney against DeSantis who is trailing former President Donald Trump in polls for the GOP presidential choice among voters.
DeSantis wants out of his legal wrangle with Disney
In April, Disney sued DeSantis for using his power as Florida governor to strip the company’s ability to self-govern the 25,000-acre site of its Walt Disney World amusement parks in Orlando. Disney claimed DeSantis targeted and retaliated against the company with the move because it disagreed with his “Don’t Say Gay” bill DeSantis signed into law last year, banning education about sexual orientation and gender identity in some Florida classrooms.
Last month, DeSantis’ attorneys asked a federal judge for immunity from the case, which would drop the lawsuit and free him from any further legal action, liability, or punishment. In a legal filing, DeSantis’ attorneys said the court should dismiss the case in part because “all of Disney’s claims fail as a matter of law.”
But Disney’s attorneys wrote in their lawsuit that the company “finds itself in this regrettable position because it expressed a viewpoint the governor and his allies did not like.” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is one of the largest taxpayers and employers in the state, Disney attorneys argue.
“This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional,” Disney’s lawsuit added.
DeSantis vs. Mickey, Donald and GoofyFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney World, explained
DeSantis says Disney’s lawsuit has ‘no merit’
DeSantis’ administration said the lawsuit is “yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”
“We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state,” Taryn Fenske, a communications director for DeSantis, said in a statement in late April.
Meanwhile, DeSantis himself said “I don’t think the suit has merit. I think it’s political,” he said at a news conference during a visit to Jerusalem in late April.
DeSantis’ campaign responds to Iger’s latest comments
DeSantis campaign responded to Iger’s comments Thursday afternoon by tweeting a video of Karey Burke, a Disney executive, speaking during a company-wide Zoom call last year about LGBTQ representation in the company’s content.
In the video, Burke describes herself as a mother of two queer children, saying, “We don’t have enough leads and narratives in which gay characters just get to be characters and not have to be about gay stories.”
Earlier Thursday, Iger also told CNBC it was “horrifying” to see neo-Nazis hold a demonstration near Disney World after Trump’s federal indictment last month.
“It’s concerning to me that anyone would encourage a level of intolerance or even hate that, frankly, could even become — dangerous action that could be turned into some dangerous act of some sort,” Iger said.
Neo-Nazis rally outside Disney WorldPeople with Nazi flags, signs supporting Florida Gov. DeSantis gathered outside Disney World
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