- [Narrator] It is a feud
that has garnered nationwide attention.
- The battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
and Disney takes a new turn.
The House of Mouse now taking legal
action against the governor.
- Disney, the parent company of ABC,
filing a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
- The Mouse House dealing another blow
to Florida Governor Rod DeSantis.
Disney ditching its plan
to build a billion dollar office complex in Lake Nona.
- [Narrator] Pinning one of the world's
most beloved companies.
- [Bob] This is about one thing and one thing only,
and that's retaliating against us for taking a position
about pending legislation.
- [Narrator] Against one of the nation's
most popular governors.
- You're a corporation based in Burbank, California,
and you're gonna marshal your economic might
to attack the parents of my state?
So just what exactly is behind this feud?
What's at stake for both Ron DeSantis and Bob Iger
and which side will ultimately come out on top?
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♪ You've never had a friend like me ♪
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- The feud between Ron DeSantis
and Disney really started in 2022 when the company
came forward against the so called Don't Say Gay bill,
which prohibited Florida public schools
from teaching sexual orientation
to kids in kindergarten through third grade.
- We will make sure that parents can send their kids
to school to get an education,
not an indoctrination.
- [Narrator] Then Disney CEO, Bob Chapek
largely remained silent at first,
declining to take a stance.
But after mounting public pressure,
he released a company-wide memo
to employees writing in part, "As we have seen time
and again corporate statements due very little
to change outcomes or minds."
And that quote, "the best way for our company
to bring about lasting change is
through the inspiring content we produce."
- That memo was not well received at Disney
and there was immediate pushback
and it was all over social media.
It was basically seen
as though Bob Chapek had not taken a stand
for the LGBTA community.
- [Narrator] After facing intense backlash
for his initial statement,
Bob Chapek released a second statement days later
saying in part,
"It is clear that this is not just an issue
about a bill in Florida,
but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights.
You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight
for equal rights and I let you down.
I am sorry."
- When he did that and sort of waffled a little bit,
you know, in terms of messaging, DeSantis pounced on it
and he called Disney woke.
Our policy's gonna be based on the best interest
of Florida citizens, not on the musing
of global corporation.
(people cheering)
And in April of 2022, DeSantis took things a step further,
signing a bill into law that would officially strip Disney
of a special self-governing status in the area
around its Orlando theme parks,
then known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
- Since then, Bob Chapek has been fired as the Disney CEO
and Bob Iger has returned.
That's where the DeSantis-Iger feud begins.
- [Narrator] With CEO Bob Iger back at the helm,
Disney began to go on the offensive
filing a lawsuit in federal court in April
against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
and other officials alleging a targeted campaign
of government retaliation.
- [Bob] About a year ago, the the company took a position
on pending Florida legislation
and while the company may have not handled the position
it took very well, a company has a right to freedom
of speech, just like individuals do.
And obviously in taking the position,
the governor got very angry about the position Disney took
and seems like he's decided to retaliate against us,
including the naming of a new board to oversee the property
and the business, in effect, to seek to punish a company
for its exercise of a constitutional right.
- [Narrator] In response, less than a week
after Disney's lawsuit,
the newly appointed local governing board voted in May
to sue Disney in state court.
And in the latest turn of events,
Disney just announced it would not be moving forward
with plans to build a roughly $1 billion office
complex in Lake Nona.
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- Disney is the largest taxpayer in Florida.
It has said it plans on investing $17 billion
in the coming years in the greater
Walt Disney World theme park area.
It pays more than a billion dollars each year
in taxes to Florida.
- [Bob] We have over 75,000 employees,
which I noted in my opening.
Countless thousands of indirect jobs have been created.
About 50 million visitors will go
through our gates this year alone,
about 8 million of them from outside the U.S.
And we are the largest taxpayer in the state.
- Superficially, that would be a bizarre punching bag.
Like that's not the entity that you want to make your enemy
because if you are the governor of Florida,
you are so reliant on Disney
and also just in general, like you really wanna pick a fight
with Walt Disney World?
- [Narrator] But Ron DeSantis did just that,
giving oversight of the special district
to his own appointees known as
the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
- The reason why the legislature had to act was not
because of anything we did.
It was basically born out of Disney's arrogance
that they would be able to subcontract
around the duly enacted laws of the state of Florida.
That's wrong.
- The special tax district
where Disney is located is really now governed by a board
of all DeSantis appointees.
These people were handpicked by the governor himself
to really reign in Disney's self-governing abilities.
And so the board itself is meant to really take on
the company through a government entity.
And so far there have been threats
of possibly building a prison next to Disney
all after the company came forward against the,
so-called Don't Say Gay bill.
- I think the reason this is happening is that
Ron DeSantis is not your typical governor.
He is planning on running for president in 2024
and he's decided that he's going
to make these culture wars a major part
of his presidential campaign.
- [Narrator] Bob Iger for his part
has tried to set the record straight
regarding special districts in Florida.
- [Bob] So this is not about special privileges
or a level playing field
or Disney in any way using its leverage
around the state of Florida.
There are about 2,000 special districts in Florida
and most were established to foster investment
and development, where we were one of them.
It basically made it easier for us
and others, by the way, to do business in Florida.
So while it's easy to say
that the Reedy Creek special district that was established
for us over 50 years ago benefited us,
it's misleading to not also consider
how much Disney benefited the state of Florida.
And we're also, we're not the only company
operating a special district.
I mentioned 2,000.
The Daytona Speedway has one,
so do the Villages, which is a prominent retirement
community and there are countless others.
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- The stakes now are much higher
because they're in court in two different jurisdictions.
They're in federal court where Disney sued
and they're in state court where the board
that was appointed by DeSantis has sued Disney.
- Disney has a pretty strong case
just on the practicalities of it.
DeSantis and the Florida legislature are trying
to punish Disney for speaking up very mildly
about a law in Florida.
Disney is actually making several different arguments.
No matter what is ordinarily okay,
can't take an action to punish private entity
because of its speech.
- [Narrator] As for Governor DeSantis,
the state's argument may be on shaky legal ground.
- The argument that they have is
that Disney always got special treatment.
Whether or not that's true, to revoke it as retaliation for,
you know, expressing a political opinion
is a serious problem.
And if a court were to embrace a broader rule,
which is sure, go ahead and legislate
whenever you don't like what a company is saying,
I think that would be a very strong signal
among other things to businesses,
you know, stay out of Florida.
But none of this has ever deterred the governor,
in part because of his strong support
amongst Republicans in the Sunshine State,
- I'm definitely on De Santa's side.
Go woke, go broke.
- I think that renewing our annual passes
shows that we're supporting them
and I'm not supporting them
or their beliefs in what they're trying to do.
There are other polls that have suggested
that this fight against Disney
is part of Republican party's
fight against, you know, culture wars
and getting involved with things like
that is actually a real net positive
for Republican primary voters.
- [Narrator] In this recent March poll
conducted by the University of North Florida,
DeSantis enjoyed a much higher
favorability rating when compared to Disney
among the GOP base.
About 87% of Republican voters said they found DeSantis
to be either very favorable or somewhat favorable.
When the same poll of voters was asked about Disney,
only about 27% said they found the company
either very favorable or somewhat favorable.
- So if and when, and likely when Ron DeSantis
runs for president, this battle
with Disney could end up helping him in the primary.
- [Narrator] But questions remain.
How will this translate to the general electorate?
- Even if he pulls this off,
and uses this kind of culture war against Disney
as a way to become the Republican nominee for president,
there's still a lot of questions as how this,
is this gonna really appeal to independent voters,
swing state voters in a general election.
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This is more of a political issue
than it is a Disney financial or business issue.
This isn't particularly going
to be a stock mover for Disney.
It is definitely an annoyance.
- Iger believes that he has the moral high ground here
and in past comments, he's been very clear by
how he believes that Disney was retaliated against
for expressing a political opinion
on the Florida legislation.
- [Bob] Any action that thwarts those efforts
simply to retaliate for a position the company took,
sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida.
- [Narrator] DeSantis, meanwhile
is showing no signs of backing down.
- We fought very hard for children.
We have a fundamental disagreement in this state
in terms of what we think is appropriate for children
and what the people in Burbank, California
think is appropriate for children.
- So they may have to get into a little bit
of the legal machinations here
and how they're gonna resolve this
and what the ultimate long game is here for Disney.
- From a political standpoint, Disney may gain just
as many points as DeSantis feels like he's gaining
by not making this go away.
- [Narrator] For now, as both sides wait
for the legal process to play itself out, the war of words
between the Florida governor and Disney continue.
- We're not gonna let them try to impose the idea
of gender fluidity on our kids,
particularly our young elementary school kids.
And if Disney doesn't like that, well here I stand.
I am not backing down one inch.
I am gonna do what's right
and we are gonna make sure we're standing up
for our children.
- [Bob] We operate responsibly.
We pay our fair share of taxes.
We employ thousands of people.
So I'm gonna finish what is obviously kind of a long answer
by asking one question, does the state want us
to invest more, employ more people
and pay more taxes or not?
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