Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger addressed the company's ongoing battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the media giant's annual meeting of shareholders on Monday.

"A company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do," Iger said, adding DeSantis' policies are "anti-business" and "anti-Florida" as the politician looks to strip Disney of its self-governing powers.

The fight stems from what has largely been seen as a politically-targeted response over the company's reaction to the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade. In 2022, then-CEO Bob Chapek denounced it at the company's annual shareholder meeting after initially deciding not to speak publicly on the matter.

In response, DeSantis signed a bill into law that allows him to take control of the company's long-standing special tax district, formerly known as Reedy Creek.

Earlier on Monday, DeSantis asked Florida's inspector general to look into a last minute agreement signed by the previous Reedy Creek board that essentially renders the new oversight committee, appointed by DeSantis, powerless.

Iger admitted he doesn't understand why DeSantis is punishing Disney given the mutually beneficial relationship between the company and the state.

"We love the state of Florida. I think that's reflected in not only how much we've invested over the last 50 years, but also how much that we've given back in the form of jobs and community service, taxes, [tourism] and all sorts of other responsible business practices," he said, revealing Disney plans to invest $17 billion at Walt Disney World over the next 10 years, which will create an estimated 13,000 jobs.

"It's always kind of been a two way street," he continued. "[But] to punish a company exercising its constitutional right seems very wrong to me."

When asked why Disney feels the need to take on any type of political position, Iger said he has certain responsibilities to the business and its 75,000-plus employees.

"As the CEO of the company, my job is to strive to do what I think is best for our business and that includes to invest in what's best for our cast members or our employees and what would enable both to flourish."

"I don't think we should or can weigh in on every issue," he continued. "I also understand there will be gray areas. ...The standard is when we take a position on [private or public] matters, there's a true reason why [and] in almost all cases it has to be because it directly effects our business or our people."

Iger also addressed what's been described as a "woke" agenda from Disney, saying he's "sensitive" to that perception and the primary mission of Disney is to entertain: "[Our stories] should not be agenda-driven."

Streaming at 'core' of Disney's strategy

In terms of the Disney's media strategy, Iger did not dive into specifics regarding the futures of Hulu or ESPN, but did say the "core strategy of the company going forward from a media perspective would be and should be streaming."

As a result, the executive dismissed third-party licensing, saying Disney must maintain its exclusive ownership of content in order to best tackle near-term challenges like profitability.

Disney's direct-to-consumer division shed a whopping $4 billion-plus in its fiscal 2022 ended on Oct. 1, after it spent an estimated $33 billion on content last year. On the company's latest earnings call, Iger revealed Disney+ was on track to achieve profitability by the end of fiscal 2024.

Overall, the executive said the company is focused on quality over quantity content production and that "sometimes the more is not necessarily the merrier."

To that point, Disney will continue to lean on its most successful tentpoles with a live-action "Moana" film currently in the early stages of development with both Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho set to reprise their respective roles.

Disney shares traded relatively flat following the meeting's conclusion.

Alexandra is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at [email protected]

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