Ron DeSantis shunned Bob Iger's attempts at opening talks amid Disney's ongoing legal battle with the Florida Governor

Nov 29, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Gallery / 2 Photos
Bob Iger

Posted: Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:44pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

As part of a wide-reaching interview at the DealBook conference today, Disney CEO Bob Iger again commented on the ongoing legal battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Notably, Iger said that his attempts to have a conversation with DeSantis were rebuffed. Iger said, "I offered, at some point through intermediaries, the ability to have a conversation with him, but he did not; he did not take me up on that offer."

Ron DeSantis at Reedy Creek Improvement District

Elaborating on the situation in Florida, Iger said, "The company, while I was gone, decided to take a position against the Don't Say Gay bill that was moving through the Florida Legislature. I won't comment about what I would have done or not done, but the company took that position against it. The governor got very, very angry at the company when it took that position and decided to punish the company by basically stripping its rights to a special district around Disney World that had been in place for decades. The question wasn't even about the bill. It was about does a company have a right to free speech. And if it exercises its right to free speech, it should not face retribution."

Judge Allen Winsor will hear arguments on December 12 at 9:30 am at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee as CFTOD tries to dismiss the lawsuit Walt Disney Parks and Resorts filed against DeSantis and his Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

Disstevefan118 days ago

I think King better describers the power TWDC has in central Florida in my opinion.

GimpYancIent18 days ago

King? No. More a Celebrity, an "A" lister.

Mr. Sullivan19 days ago

I don’t know, things are going pretty well here at the moment

Dranth19 days ago

It certainly doesn't work here in the US with how our system is setup, but in democracies that have say a parliamentary system where you have lots of small parties that are forced to compromise and work together to win control/pass laws/etc. it can work pretty well.

Disstevefan119 days ago

Disney will do what Disney will do. They are free to cancel, scope cut, pause, delay projects or slow walk projects through fiscal quarter after fiscal quarter with no explanation. Disney is King in central Florida. They will never lose that power.

co1006420 days ago

It’s obvious that the gap in the parks’ development cycle was multi-faceted: • Lingering consequences from COVID • Prioritizing making streaming profitable • Shake ups in WDI • Change in CEO/ousting of Bob Chapek • Conflicts and uncertainty with the new district Not saying anything that went down with the district takeover was right, but I truly believe we’d still have seen a development gap without it.

Nevermore52520 days ago

Yep, which is what the re-formed district wanted to be until they realized they were hamstrung from doing so.

peter1143520 days ago

A hostile district would have been problematic for the DAK and DHS projects as well.

Tha Realest20 days ago

I never said anyone lied under oath. The OP mentioned the RCID brouhaha was to blame for “WDW not adding more attractions” (not just MK). Not “penny pinching,” or a CEO shakeup, or COVID. Here’s their quote: All this reveals that all those 'annoyed' by WDW not adding more attractions during that time period should turn their annoyance at the governor's attack on the RCID which put expansions on hold, rather than railing on Disney's supposed penny-pinching. His statement was not limited to MK, or an MK expansion. My responses to him and you addressed this comment on those terms. I’ve offered plenty of examples of other parks where old attractions were cancelled pre-RCID, or where “remodel” occurred in other parks which wouldn’t have needed the extensive water credits you mentioned.

OG Runner20 days ago

To think some people say you can't read sarcasm.:D

LAKid5320 days ago

👍🏻 Because the LAST thing a company wants when suing the government is for your executives to commit perjury.

Stripes20 days ago

To be clear, even though they have zero reason to lie at all, you’re saying that Disney executives lied under oath about delaying the Magic Kingdom project due to the uncertainty caused by the CFTOD board? And your basis for this assertion is that they cut the budget for one project and therefore must have cancelled another entirely separate project with completely different financial justifications? Okay…

Disney Analyst20 days ago

Parties debate, talk, and work together to table legislation that appeases all sides through compromise. Yes, some legislation may not get passed if they can’t agree, and sometimes the impasse becomes big enough to force an election. But that’s actually the point. Nothing rammed through unilaterally, no sweeping changes that get reversed the moment power shifts.