Disney v. DeSantis: Why Florida's governor took on America's media giant

- [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?

(upbeat music)

♪ You've never had a friend like me ♪

(whimsical music)

- 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.

(dramatic music)

- 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?

(dramatic music)