Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging The Walt Disney Co. to drop its lawsuit against him, stating that he has “moved on” from the battle and that the company should do the same. When asked why he doesn’t just call Disney CEO Bob Iger to resolve the dispute, DeSantis responded, “We’ve basically moved on. They are suing the state of Florida, and they are going to lose that lawsuit. So I would say, ‘Drop the lawsuit. You have the state that even CNBC ranks as number one of all 50 states for the economy.”
Disney sued DeSantis in April, claiming that he violated the company’s First Amendment and other constitutional rights. DeSantis led an effort to strip the company of control over a special district that covers its Florida theme parks, which Disney believes was retaliation for opposing a parental rights bill known as the “don’t say gay” law. DeSantis argues that the special district gave “extraordinary privileges” to Disney at the expense of others, but Disney’s lawsuit includes examples of the governor targeting the company specifically.
In a previous interview, DeSantis stated that since their dispute last year, Disney has not been involved in any controversial issues. He believes it is important that Disney is not allowed to manipulate the system to the detriment of Floridians. A Disney spokesperson has not yet responded to DeSantis’ latest statements.
DeSantis has made his fight with Disney a part of his presidential campaign, accusing the company of promoting “sexualized content” for young children. Disney CEO Bob Iger called this claim “preposterous.” The special district was established over 50 years ago to give Disney control over development decisions, taxation, and bonding authority.
Earlier this year, DeSantis appointed new directors to the board of the special district, now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The board filed its own lawsuit against Disney, seeking to invalidate development agreements made before control passed to the state.
Despite DeSantis highlighting his battle with Disney and other cultural issues in his campaign, his poll numbers have declined as Donald Trump remains the front-runner nationally and in key primary states. Iger has referred to DeSantis as “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” In the CNBC interview, DeSantis emphasized that he has been supportive of Disney, allowing them to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic while California kept their parks closed. He stated that he didn’t force Disney to close their parks, as they did so voluntarily.
