Disney does not want to wear its politics on its sleeve. The company, like nearly every large brand going after a mass market audience, wants to appeal to as many people as possible.
That's easier for most brands than it is for a company operating in the storytelling space. Walt Disney (DIS) -) by simply showing that not all people are white and straight while telling stories about diverse groups including a variety of religions runs the risk of being labeled as "woke" by conservatives.
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That's at least part of why Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone after the company. The right-wing presidential candidate has repeatedly accused Disney of "sexualizing children." That's not something he explains or gives examples of, but it has been a regular talking point for the governor.
DeSantis has tried to market himself as someone working to protect children from "woke" ideas and ideologies. That's what inspired his "Parental Rights in Education Act," a bill he proposed limiting the discussion of gender identity and sexuality in most K-12 classrooms.
Dubbed, the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics, the legislation caused former Disney CEO Bob Chapek to directly critique DeSantis. That touched off the war between the Florida governor and a company that drives billions in tourist revenue to his state.
It's a war that current CEO Bob Iger does not want and his latest remarks make that very clear.
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Iger wants to take Disney out of politics
DeSantis has taken out his wrath on Disney by dismantling the former Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) that allowed the company to govern the land its theme parks sit on as well as adjacent areas. That's a common arrangement in Florida, which has over 2,000 special districts, but the Florida governor has routinely painted Disney as getting "special treatment."
Disney and Florida currently both have lawsuits filed about the future of former RCID, but Iger wants to try to tamp down the political war with DeSantis, while still fighting the actual legal one in the courts.
At the recent Walt Disney World investor summit, Iger reportedly said that Disney will “quiet the noise” in the ongoing culture war that it finds itself in with conservatives, BlogMickey reported. That's similar to comments he made to employees at a town hall meeting when he rejoined the company in 2022.
On that day he said, "to the extent that I can work to quiet things down, I’m going to do that."
DeSantis needs Disney as an enemy
As he seeks the Republican nomination for president, DeSantis has used Disney as his proxy for woke companies who are undermining traditional values by acknowledging that the LGBTQ+ community exists. Disney, which has never released an R-rated movie under its own name, is hardly stuffing its films with sexual content of the straight or gay kind.
The company does, however, include gay characters and has featured a trans character on the Disney Channel show "Raven's Home."
DeSantis wants to be seen as taking on the company and pushed back against the notion that he should not be at war with a company that brings his state so much money, in a recent ABC News interview.
"That's kind of the old-guard Republicans where they basically always just bend the knee to the big, powerful corporations. You've got to stand for what's right. So I'm always going to stand for our kids," he said.
DeSantis continued to attack the company for its opposition to his legislation.
"I think Disney made a mistake in doing what they're doing. But we have every right to push back and defend our policies against those who are seeking to undermine them," he said. "And that was the right thing to do."
Iger did make it clear in his town hall that he does not view the company's content choices as being political.
"I think that some of the subjects that have proven to be controversial as it relates to Disney have been branded ‘political’, and I don’t necessarily think they are. I don’t think that when you are telling stories and attempting to be a good citizen of the world that that’s political. Just not how I view it," he said.
