The feud between Ron DeSantis and Disney, explained

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, reportedly on the precipice of announcing his 2024 presidential campaign, has achieved what he may not have thought possible: He’s driving Disney’s business out of the state.

The company announced Thursday that it was scrapping plans for a $1 billion development in Orlando near Lake Nona Town Center that would have involved the creation of a new office complex, importing a division from California, and generating 2,000 new jobs. The move comes after DeSantis signed legislation that voided agreements allowing Disney to continue to develop its properties in Florida with relative independence, a law the company is now battling in court.

Disney is escalating its culture war with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into a legal war.

On Wednesday, Disney sued DeSantis and other state officials for what it claims is political retaliation for its opposition last year to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prevents some teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people in school. The lawsuit comes just after the new board DeSantis created to govern Disney’s Orlando resorts nullified state contracts that allowed the company to continue to develop its properties with relative independence.

Florida Republican Gov. DeSantis has been foiled by Disney once again.

The new board DeSantis appointed to oversee the company’s Orlando theme parks has discovered a new wrinkle in its plans. The board’s chairman said Wednesday that another “11th hour agreement” was signed before the board took over that allows Disney to set its own utility rates for its resorts through 2032. By that time, DeSantis, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection in 2026, will be long gone.

The long-running war between Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney executives continues to intensify.

DeSantis, out for revenge after suffering a major loss in his efforts to punish Disney for being “woke,” announced a new bill to rein in Disney’s theme parks Tuesday. In a return to the issue that first earned it the governor’s ire, the “Happiest Place on Earth” unveiled its first-ever event to celebrate Pride Month on April 14, complete with themed entertainment and specialty menu items.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may have prematurely declared victory in his battle with Disney.

Last year, DeSantis made national headlines when he went after the company, the state’s largest employer, in retaliation for its opposition to his “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prevents teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people. He pushed the state legislature to strip the company of its status as a special tax district, under which it has been able to develop and maintain its theme parks with relative independence. And DeSantis replaced the board members governing that district, who’d previously been controlled by Disney, with conservative figures loyal to him.

At the urging of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida legislature voted this week to punish one of the world’s biggest producers of entertainment and pop culture, because DeSantis and his fellow Florida Republicans disagreed with that producer’s First Amendment-protected speech. DeSantis signed the bill into law on Friday.

Florida’s decision to strip a government benefit from Disney because, in DeSantis’s words, Disney expressed “woke” opinions and “tried to attack me to advance their woke agenda,” is unconstitutional. And it’s not a close case.

Disney doesn’t like conflict.

Conflict means taking sides. Conflict means making enemies. Conflict means personally defining what’s right and what’s wrong. None of those things are appealing to a company that’s ridden high-gloss inoffensiveness to become the richest and most powerful entertainment company in the world.