The ongoing fight between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney has continued to escalate in recent weeks.
What You Need To Know
- Disney CEO Bob Iger addresses ongoing fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Iger said the governor's actions are about one thing: retaliation
- Iger's comments came during the company's second quarter earnings call
- RELATED: Former Disney World exec Lee Cockerell talks about DeSantis' fight with Disney
On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger again addressed the situation in Florida, saying the feud is about retaliation and not about “special privileges or a level playing field.”
“This is about one thing and one thing only, and that is retaliating against us for taking a position about pending legislation,” Iger said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “And we believe that in us taking that position, we are merely exercising our right to free speech.”
Iger added that even though Disney benefited from having the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the state benefited from Disney. He also noted that Florida has about 2,000 special districts and those haven’t been targeted.
“We’re not the only company operating a special district,” Iger said. “Daytona Speedway has one. So do The Villages, which is a permanent retirement community, and there are countless others. So the goal here, if the goal is leveling the playing field, then the uniform application of the law or government oversight of special districts needs to occur or be applied to all special districts.”
Earlier this year, the state took over Disney’s special district — renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — with DeSantis appointing five members to the board.
Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the district board overseeing, accusing the governor and others of a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” Disney filed an amendment to the lawsuit earlier this week to include recent actions such as a law that would void Disney’s development agreement with the previous district board.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes or not?” Iger asked during the call Wednesday, after mentioning that Disney is the largest taxpayer in Central Florida.
“We never wanted and we certainly never expected to be in a position of having to defend our business interests in federal court, particularly having such a terrific relationship with the state for more than 50 years,” Iger said.
This isn't the first time Iger commented on the situation in Florida. Last month, during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, he called DeSantis’ actions “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”