Bob Iger Says DeSantis Has ‘Encouraged’ Hate — But Disney Wants No Part of ‘Culture Wars’

Disney CEO Bob Iger talked to CNBC’s David Faber this week on the company’s contentious relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, calling the 2024 Republican primary candidate’s comments about the company “preposterous” and potentially dangerous.

The exchange took place on Thursday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box, during an interview where Iger also dismissed the idea that Disney has faced any downturn in any aspect of its business.

Faber brought up the dispute with DeSantis after that denial. The governor and the company have been in a long-term, very high profile battle since, under former CEO Bob Chapek, publicly attacking DeSantis over the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill and vowing to take action against it. DeSantis then attacked Disney as a “woke” corporation and the state took its own retaliatory actions, including against the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and the battle continued from there.

Iger replaced Chapek in November 2022, but that has not brought about a peace treaty. On CNBC Thursday, he backed his predecessor’s position on the company’s right to speak out, but conceded, “I’m not sure it was handled very well.”

When Faber connected the DeSantis fight to an incident wherein someone had a Nazi flag outside the Disney gates, Iger reinforced that connection and said that he finds it very concerning “that anyone would encourage a, you know, a level of intolerance or even hate that, frankly, could even become, you know, dangerous action. That could be turned into some dangerous act of some sort.”

“So it’s concerning to me, but I don’t I don’t really want to engage in the specifics except to say that it’s not our goal to be involved in a culture war,” he said.

FABER: What about DeSantis, who’s going to be on the hustings, so to speak, for the next year? And he’s going, he’s made this a part of his campaign. Attacking Disney, saying it’s a woke corporation. ‘We’ve put the company on a pedestal, but they’ve really embraced the idea of getting these sexualized content in the program line that I’m not willing to cross.’ I mean, that’s what he said. I quoted DeSantis there. How do you respond to that?

IGER: Well, so far, what we’ve said publicly is that we are concerned that he has decided to retaliate against the company for a position the company took on pending legislation in that state. And frankly, the company was within its right, even though I’m not sure it was handled very well, it was within its right to speak up on an issue — constitutionally protected right of free speech. And to retaliate against the company in a way that would be harmful to the business was not something that we could sit back and tolerate. And so we have filed a lawsuit to protect our First Amendment rights there and to protect our business, frankly. The other issues that you referenced? Look, the last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be drawn be drawn into any culture wars. You know, we’ve operated for, you know, almost 100 years as a company making product that we actually are proud of in terms of its impact on the world. You know, I, I joke every once in a while we’re there to manufacture fun.

IGER: You know, we’re there to tell a great story…

FABER: I know, but you can’t be happy when there’s literally Nazis standing outside the front gates of the park.

IGER: That was horrifying, quite frankly. And it’s concerning to me that anyone would encourage a, you know, a level of intolerance or even hate that, frankly, could even become, you know, dangerous action. That could be turned into some dangerous act of some sort. So it’s concerning to me, but I don’t I don’t really want to engage in the specifics except to say that it’s not our goal to be involved in a culture war. Our goal is to continue to tell wonderful stories and have a positive impact on the world. You know, we are a preeminent entertainer in the world, and we’re proud of our track record there. The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate.

IGER: Well, this is going to keep going on. But you’re going to I mean, do you ever feel like you need to engage in even more strident way or you sort of want to stay kind of where you are? The lawsuit will speak for itself?

IGER: We’re going to keep doing what we do, what we do best, and be proud of what we are doing. And be mindful of the environment, of course, I’ve said this, I’ve said this publicly. You know, we’re sensitive to the interests and the needs of the great audiences that we are seeking to attract globally, and we’ll continue to do that.

Watch above via CNBC’s Squawk Box.