DISNEY ON WEDNESDAY sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, alleging his administration’s takeover of its theme park district in the state is part of “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” for exercising its constitutionally protected right to free speech.
The move is the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter fight between the entertainment giant and DeSantis, a Republican presidential hopeful for the 2024 election who has denounced Disney as a “woke” corporation – a call aimed at pleasing his right-wing supporters.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Florida, names DeSantis and other members of the conservative governor’s administration.
“A targeted campaign of government retaliation – orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech – now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights,” it says.
DeSantis seized control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district in February, and has openly mused about hiking taxes on the company, imposing seemingly punitive safety inspections and even building a prison next to the theme park.
On Wednesday, a DeSantis-appointed panel voted to vacate agreements that gave Disney effective powers of self-governance at its huge complex near Orlando, which employs 75,000 people and attracts 50 million visitors annually, including many from around the world, bringing billions of dollars into the Sunshine State’s economy.
Moments later, the company hit back.
“There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so,” the filing says.
“The company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney.
“Disney… knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State’s retaliation – a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views.
“In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”
Disney chief Robert Iger told shareholders this month that DeSantis’s behavior “seems really wrong.”
“A company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do,” he added.
Disney has announced plans to invest more than $17 billion in Disney World in the coming decade, a move it projects will creating more than 10,000 new jobs while attracting even more tourist money to Florida.
“Any action that thwarts those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida,” Iger said.
Disney says it is one of the state’s biggest employers and one of the region’s largest contributors to public coffers, having paid $1.1 billion in state and local taxes last year.
Walt Disney World is the largest theme park in the world and has been governed since it opened in the 1970s by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, an independent authority with broad local management autonomy that exempted it from most state regulations.
DeSantis has positioned himself as the leading Republican alternative to Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.
A darling of the populist right, the 44-year-old DeSantis – who has not yet formally entered the White House race – has devoted much of his time as governor to bashing Democrats for liberalism and “wokeness.”
DeSantis’s education initiatives and other measures, such as a proposal to allow Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training, place him firmly on his party’s right wing.
© Agence France-Presse
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