Posted in: Disney+, Movies, Opinion, TV, TV, YouTube | Tagged: desantis, disney, florida, opinion, ron desantis

Disney/DeSantis: Bob Iger Pushes Back on "Sexualized Content" Charge

Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed Gov. Ron DeSantis's "sexualized content" charge, a controversial demonstration from over the summer & more.

Well, no one can say that Disney CEO Bob Iger didn't give a little something for everyone to love or hate during his interview with David Faber on CNBC's Squawk Box from Idaho's Sun Valley Conference. Earlier today, we took a look at Iger's not-so-friendly thoughts about the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes. Following that, Iger admitted that the rush to pack Disney+ with original content may have hurt studios like Marvel Studios. Now, Iger is returning to a topic that's been of particular interest to us – imploding 2024 GOP POTUS candidate & Flordia Governor Ron DeSantis.

During the interview, Iger pushed back on DeSantis's claim (per The New York Times) that Disney "really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the programming for the young kids." The comment came as the company and DeSantis have been in a long-running feud over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. While stating that "the last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be drawn into any culture wars," Iger didn't let the charge go unchallenged. "We are a pre-eminent entertainer in the world, and we are proud of our track record there. The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing our children quite frankly is preposterous and inaccurate," Iger shared with Faber.

In addition, Iger offered his thoughts on a particularly ugly incident from June of this year, when Neo-Nazis demonstrated outside of Walt Disney World. "It was horrifying, quite frankly, and it's concerning to me that anyone would encourage a level of intolerance or even hate that frankly could even become dangerous action. It could be turned into some dangerous act of some sort. So it is concerning to me," Iger said. As for the lawsuit that Disney has against DeSantis and members of his administration, Iger sees it as a necessary move to protect the company from what Iger says are retaliatory tactics on the part of the DeSantis administration. "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 out on an issue, a constitutionally protected right to free speech, and to retaliate against the company in a way that could be harmful to the business was not something we could sit back and tolerate," Iger added.

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