During Disney’s annual shareholders meeting Monday, Iger answered a bizarre question about the company’s so-called "woke
...the on-going war against good sense...agenda" with the kind of poise and composure that made him such a favorite of his employees and the shareholders.
"Let me address this issue, which I haven’t really done much publicly," Iger said. "But I’d love the opportunity just to put it all in perspective. First of all, I know you said you’re a resident, I think of Melbourne, Florida. We love the state of Florida. And I think that’s reflected in not only how much we’ve invested over the last 50 years, but how much we’ve given back in the form of jobs and community service taxes which you brought up, tourism, of course, and all sorts of other responsible business practices. We’ve also always respected and appreciated what the state has done for us. It’s kind of been a two-way street."
Iger then discussed the decision, by former CEO Bob Chapek, to address DeSantis’ so-called "Don’t Say Gay" bill (after mounting pressure both internally and externally). It was a totally botched handling of the situation, something that Iger acknowledged.
"But a year ago, the company took a position on pending Florida legislation. And while the company may have not handled the position that it took very well, a company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do," Iger said. "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. And that just seems really wrong to me, against any company or individual but particularly against the company that means so much to the state that you live in. That you can put that in perspective we have over 75,000 employees which I noted in my opening, countless thousands of indirect jobs have been created."
| They had over 75,000 employees. I seem to recall they have somewhat fewer now, and plan to have even fewer in the future. |