Disney CEO Bob Iger has questioned if Florida wants the company to continue investing in the state as the feud between the two continues to grow.
The statement from Iger was made on Wednesday during a conference call for Disney's second quarter, only a few weeks after the company sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). Disney had plans to invest more than $17 billion over the next decade in Walt Disney World, which would create 13,000 jobs, a move Iger claimed “is what the state should want us to do."
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"Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?" Iger wondered.
The feud between Disney and Florida started after the company spoke out against the passage of Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, with Disney claiming that it should not have been passed into law. In response, the state of Florida stripped the company of its ability to self-govern a special tax district where Walt Disney World is located.
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In April, Disney sued the state of Florida, with the lawsuit alleging that Florida violated Disney's First Amendment right to free speech, the contract and takings clauses in the U.S. Constitution, and the company's 14th Amendment right to due process. Iger commented on the lawsuit during the call on Wednesday, saying that by speaking out against Florida's bill, "we are merely exercising our right to free speech."
On Monday, Disney filed an amendment to its lawsuit by adding a land use bill and recent comments by DeSantis to its complaint. The main addition to its complaint was the land use bill, or SB 1604, which includes an amendment nullifying the agreement Disney made with the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District board that undercut the new DeSantis-appointed board's power over the district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort.