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"

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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.

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lazyboy97o14 minutes ago

Until an executive order says otherwise. Iger has repeatedly caved to illegal actions. No reason to expect he won’t do so again.

Stripes17 minutes ago

None of the FCC licenses for Disney owned ABC stations expire until after the end of the Trump administration.

lazyboy97o1 hour ago

Bob Iger is a coward who has been unable to actually buy protection. https://www.yahoo.com/news/fcc-investigate-disney-over-dei-151311359.html

DCBaker1 day ago

Here's the full packet: https://www.oversightdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-28-25-BOS-Agenda-packet.pdf Item 7.4 on the Sunshine Corridor PD&E Study:

Dr.GrantSeeker3 days ago

Oof, 2031 is a long ways away! Wonder how long it will actually take if and when they start it. Edit: thanks Len!

castlecake2.03 days ago

lentesta3 days ago

AFAIK the road budget is still in place. IIRC it was a tie-in of Western Way to the east side of property. ETA: Yep. Look at Exhibit D in this doc from the CFTOD boaerd meeting on 2024-06-05.

LAKid533 days ago

What more can be done?

Dr.GrantSeeker4 days ago

I remember RCID approving a bunch of infrastructure work for Western Way and the BV Drive intersection right before they became CFTOD. Do we still know if these improvements are going to happen and when? @lentesta I’m tagging you because i vaguely remember you talking about this a year ago-ish, which is how I learned about it in the first place. Unless my memory is totally wrong (which it could be) so I apologize in advance if you never mentioned these improvements!

LAKid534 days ago

Have you met OC Planning? Their middle name is urban sprawl....

LAKid534 days ago

It is. I laugh everytime I'm GPSed through property on the way back from MCO. And I think the same on the way home from Port Canaveral. I'd rather make a larger loop around than drive Osceola Parkway to LBV Drive to Western Way to Hartzog.

lazyboy97o4 days ago

And instead of real solutions people just double down on the causes of traffic.

castlecake2.04 days ago

The blessing of size lead to urban sprawl on property, the very thing Walt’s EPCOT was trying to fix. One solution could be trying to implement public transit to get Cast living nearby to work, but Orlando’s transit is terrible, and the sprawl across property makes it hard to make an efficient system for moving people. Now with the sprawl surrounding the property, Disney roads are becoming the shortcuts. The isolated feel of entire resort is quickly disappearing.

LAKid534 days ago

State Road 535 (Avalon Road) North from the intersection at Hartzog is now wall to wall apartment complexes up to New Independence. I had to make a detour to get out of Waterleigh due to road resurfacing and the same is going south. The roads in Horizons West currently can't handle the traffic resulting from the increase in developments. Yeah, it's nice that 429 North of the toll before the Turnpike had been widened, but it's a hot mess in the AM & PM up to that spot. The amount of construction since I bought 2.5 years ago is insane. Don't know HOW they'll widen Western Way once you leave property because there's not much space to add another lane under the 429 overpass. Flamingo Crossings area is growing. And the roads can't handle the traffic.