‘It’s Political:’ DeSantis Denounces Disney Lawsuit

Disney Sues Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are in a legal battle, with Disney suing DeSantis over his efforts to revoke the company’s special legal and economic privileges. DeSantis has responded by calling the lawsuit a political move that lacks merit, while accusing Disney of lacking accountability and transparency.

DeSantis Fights for Accountability

During a press conference in Israel, DeSantis spoke out against Disney’s lawsuit, stating that he doesn’t believe it has merit and that it’s a political move. Under DeSantis, Florida has passed legislation that ended special conditions that Disney enjoyed for decades in how it administered the district where Disney World is located, which basically gave the company near total operational autonomy.

DeSantis believes that the special privileges that had been granted to Disney in how it administered the special district where Disney World is located was “not good for the state of Florida.” He added, “They had no transparency, no accountability, none of that, and that arrangement was not good for the state of Florida.”

Lawsuit Details

Disney has accused the Florida state government of an unlawful crackdown for expressing an opinion that it says should be protected under free speech laws. The company has accused DeSantis of engaging in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” as “punishment for Disney’s protected speech.”

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northwestern District of Florida states that DeSantis doesn’t plan to stop there, noting that his team “also planned ‘to look at things like taxes on the hotels,’ ‘tolls on the roads,’ ‘developing some of the property that the district owns with more amusement parks,’ and even putting a ‘state prison’ next to Disney World.'”

DeSantis’s Communications Director Taryn Fenske told The Epoch Times in a statement, “We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state.”

Disney Calls for Repeal

The long-running controversy stems from Disney’s opposition to a law dubbed by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In March 2022, Florida lawmakers passed HB 1557, or the Parental Rights in Education act, which was signed into law by DeSantis on March 28. Disney has called for the repeal of the law, which bans instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools for kindergarten through third grade.