DeSantis camp drops Disney montage after CEO says company isn’t ‘sexualizing kids’
Eric Daugherty contributed to this report.
ORLANDO, Fla. (FLV) – The DeSantis War Room, an arm of the DeSantis campaign, shared a montage Friday after Disney CEO Bob Iger publicly commented that the company is not “sexualizing children.”
The back and forth debacle between Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney has continued for more than a year.
Disney faced backlash after vowing to have Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law repealed in March 2022. The Parental Rights in Education law banned discussions and teachings about gender and sexual identity in grades K-3. Left-wing activists have falsely dubbed it “Don’t Say Gay.”
In the montage, Iger said, “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate.”
One clip then featured a speaker saying “Hello and welcome to the Disney Plus ‘this is me pride celebration spectacular.'”
DISNEY CEO: “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous.”
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 13, 2023
ROLL THE TAPE. pic.twitter.com/6NP1wexp9a
The clip was pulled from a 35-minute Disney special on YouTube aimed to raise “awareness for GLSEN, a nonprofit that The Walt Disney Company is proud to support, which works to ensure that LGBTQ+ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment.”
Another clip showed Karey Burke, president of Disney General Entertainment Content, who said her son texted her, “Gen Z is 30 to 40% queer-er than the other generations mom, so Disney better get with it.”
Later in the video, Burke said they are “targeting Gen Z and millennials.”
Another clip showed a producer, Latoya Raveneau, admitting she had a “secret gay agenda.”
“Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to like – not at all secret gay agenda,” Raveneau said.
Raveneau said she identifies as a “bi-romantic asexual.” She also said she would like to “add the pockets of the LGBTQ community that you don’t see.”
The clip continued with Disney Production Coordinator Allen March stating, “They’ve [Disney] been really open to exploring queer stories.”
“I’m on the production side and so kind of the only way to have these like canonical trans characters, canonical asexual characters, canonical bisexual characters, is to give them stories where they can like be their whole selves,” March continued.
Part of a clip showed Diversity and Inclusion Manager Vivian Ware who said that Disney park guests “will no longer hear ‘ladies and gentlemen’ or ‘boys and girls’ in the park’s greetings,” according to FOX 11.
“So we no longer say ladies and gentlemen boys and girls. It’s hello everyone or hello friends,” Ware said.
DISNEY CEO: “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous.”
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 13, 2023
ROLL THE TAPE. pic.twitter.com/6NP1wexp9a
This week, news surfaced that Iger will remain at his post through 2026 after a contract extension, a move that comes months after Iger replaced former CEO Bob Chapek late last year.
According to CNBC, Iger didn’t plan to remain CEO for longer than two years as of late-2022.
The extension comes as Disney battles DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board over developmental agreements made between the company and the former board that would’ve quashed state authority over the Walt Disney World area.
Speaking to CNBC, Iger commented on the feud with the Florida governor, saying Disney does not want to fight in a “culture war,” and he affirmed that Disney is not “sexualizing children,” calling that notion “quite frankly preposterous.”
Recently, Disney canceled a $1 billion Florida project to relocate a jobs to Central Florida, but maintained intentions on investing billions more in Walt Disney World.
After becoming the company’s CEO in 2022, Iger said he planned to “quiet things down” with regard to the battle with DeSantis and Florida.
“I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are in terms of the business itself, what I can say is the state of Florida has been important to us for a long time and we have been very important to the state of Florida,” he said last year.
Not long after, Florida lawmakers and the governor moved forward with seizing control of the independent special district that composed Walt Disney World’s massive property near Orlando, and legal battles ensued over Florida’s efforts to assert authority.
“First of all, this is self-dealing. They’re negotiating with themselves,” DeSantis said of Disney’s last-minute agreements with the former Reedy Creek board. “You can’t do that.”
“I think Disney has always viewed itself as being exempt from that constitutional process,” DeSantis said earlier this year. “Well, those days are over here in the state of Florida.”
