Disney CEO Bob Iger said Thursday that Disney isn’t “sexualizing children,” but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t believe him. He’s not the only one.
“The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate. Our goal is to continue to tell wonderful stories and have a positive impact on the world,” Iger said in an interview with CNBC.
Listen:
He also defended Disney’s decision under former CEO Bob Chapek to lobby against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill.
“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 up on an issue. Constitutionally protected right to free speech,” he said.
Lastly, he justified Disney’s lawsuit against the DeSantis administration. As previously reported, Disney filed suit in April after DeSantis punished it over its activism.
“We are concerned that he had decided to retaliate against the company for a position the company took on pending legislation in that state,” he said, adding that to “retaliate against the company in a way that would be harmful to the business was not something that we could sit back and tolerate.”
“And so we have filed a lawsuit to protect our First Amendment rights there and to protect our business, frankly. The last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be to drawn into any culture wars,” he continued.
Later that very same afternoon, DeSantis dropped his devastating response:
https://t.co/DWGQb7Zcvk pic.twitter.com/tAzDQHzo4V
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 13, 2023
His response was video footage from a Disney company meeting that reportedly occurred in March 2022.
In that meeting, Disney General Entertainment President Karey Burke announced a company initiative to have at least half of all future characters be either a member of the LGBT community or a racial minority.
“I’m here as the mother of two queer children, actually, one transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader. I have heard so much from so many of my colleagues over the past few weeks in open forums, through emails and phone conversations. I feel a responsibility to speak not just for myself but also for [my kids],” she said.
She further called 20th Century Fox “the home of really incredible, groundbreaking LGBTQIA stories over the years,” but argued that they could do more.
“One of our execs stood up and said, ‘You know we only have a handful of queer leads in our content.’ I went, ‘What? That can’t be true.’ And then I realized it is true,” she added.
Disney entertainment president, with transgender, pansexual children, wants half of future characters to be LGBTQIA or racial minorities https://t.co/18SsW1ppTo pic.twitter.com/dKwZwHD48u
— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) March 31, 2022
DeSantis wasn’t alone in responding to Iger’s clearly false remarks. His 2024 presidential campaign team also responded by dropping a montage of video footage demonstrating Disney’s blatant pro-LGBT activism and sexualization of children.
Watch that video below:
DISNEY CEO: “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children, quite frankly, is preposterous.”
ROLL THE TAPE. pic.twitter.com/6NP1wexp9a
— DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 13, 2023
Meanwhile, hundreds of Twitter users flooded Iger’s account to let him know that they, too, weren’t buying his phony bologna rhetoric.
Look:
“How Dare you accuse us of doing what we’ve been doing!” –@RobertIger, in essence, in his denials of the fact that they’ve been obviously sexualizing and communizing children through their content
— Bosch Fawstin (@TheBoschFawstin) July 13, 2023
If you don’t want to be accused of sexualizing children, animated movies like Turning Red where the main character pleasures herself under the covers to an image need to stop. It’s so sad our four young children can’t watch Disney movies.
— KelliMidwestMom (@KelliMidwestMom) July 13, 2023
The Notion That Disney Is Any Way Sexualizing Our Children Quite Frankly Is Preposterous And Inaccurate”
I wish this were true Robert, but it is absolutely a lie. Men dressed as princesses at the theme park and your overt effort to normalize this is proof.— Ryan Van Rensselaer (@ryanvanrenss) July 14, 2023
Hi, I’m @RobertIger , the jerk that is running Disney into the ground because I am a left wing activist trying to use Disney muscle to pick on a right wing candidate. Oops, I’m losing??? We don’t want a culture war and forget about all that sexualizing kids stuff we are doing.
— Corvusmd (@Corvusmd07) July 13, 2023
Disney has been sexualizing their shows now for a decade. This comes from an exec that allows grown men to dress up in princess dresses and greet children. @Disney has decided. Their decision, “Perverts over Children”. Disney is a dangerous place and harmful media. pic.twitter.com/JUhZlyIYn5
— Mark Clabaugh (@clabaugh_mark) July 13, 2023
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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