Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and the Walt Disney Company have been engaged in a battle for nearly a year after the company came out strongly against the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill.
The battle between DeSantis and Disney recently hit a peak when the governor restructured the company’s self-governing tax district in Orange and Osceola counties, formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Here is a look at the pivotal moments of the feud between the GOP governor and the entertainment giant.
DESANTIS SIGNS BILL RESTRUCTURING DISTRICT ENCOMPASSING WALT DISNEY WORLD
May 12, 1967: Gov. Claude Kirk (R-FL) signs the Reedy Creek Improvement Act into law, creating a special taxing district that allows Disney to manage its property independently to develop plans for the Walt Disney World Resort and the late-Walt Disney’s vision for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The company would scrap its original plans for E.P.C.O.T., later creating a theme park with the same name, but still maintained powers to create a nuclear power plant and airport, among other privileges, on its land.
Feb. 24, 2022: Lawmakers in the Florida state House passed HB 1557, known as the Parental Rights in Education bill.
The bill outlawed classrooms from kindergarten through third grade from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity and forbade schools from withholding information from parents about students’ health and well-being. The bill was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by opponents.
March 7, 2022: Despite pressure from activists within the company, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in an internal memo the company would not take a public stance on the bill.
“As we have seen time and again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds. Instead, they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame. Simply put, they can be counterproductive and undermine more effective ways to achieve change,” Chapek said.
March 8, 2022: The Parental Rights in Education bill passed in the state Senate.
March 9, 2022: At a company shareholder meeting, Chapek backtracks and publicly opposes the legislation.
“No matter how well-intended, didn’t quite get the job done, but we’re committed to supporting the community going forward,” Chapek said.
He also says he called DeSantis to “express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary, and transgender kids and families.”
DeSantis later said in his 2023 book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Survival, Chapek told him during a call he was feeling immense pressure.
“As the controversy over the Parental Rights in Education bill was coming to a head, Chapek called me. He did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill,” DeSantis wrote.
“We get pressured all the time,” Chapek added, per the book. “But this time is different. I haven’t seen anything like this before.”
March 28, 2022: DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law.
In his press conference, DeSantis accused opponents of the bill of “sloganeering” and pushing “fake narratives,” adding that most critics had not read the text of the bill.
After the bill was signed, Disney issued a statement saying their goal was to get the law repealed or struck down in the courts.
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” the company said.
March 29, 2022: DeSantis went after Disney for its statement, proclaiming it as “fundamentally dishonest” while vowing to serve the interests of Florida residents rather than the California-based company.
“This state is governed by the interests of the people of the state of Florida. It is not based on the demands of California corporate executives,” DeSantis said. “They do not run this state. They do not control this state.”
April 19, 2022: DeSantis announced he would seek to strip Disney of its special taxing district, which encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort. The legislature eventually passed a law stripping away the special district and paving the way for a replacement to be drafted.
Nov. 8, 2022: DeSantis is reelected by nearly 20 percentage points, solidifying his popularity in the Sunshine State. His Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, blasted him for engaging in a battle with Disney, but Crist’s campaign went down in defeat. Disney did not publicly speak on the election.
Feb. 9, 2023: The state House approved a bill that would restructure Disney’s district and give the state control of the board of the renamed “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.” The next day, the state Senate voted to approve the bill, sending it to DeSantis’s desk.
Feb. 27, 2023: DeSantis signed the bill, which dissolved Disney’s “corporate kingdom” while also putting it under the oversight of the state government via a new state-appointed board.
“Allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy, especially when the corporation makes decisions that impact an entire region,” DeSantis said. “This legislation ends Disney’s self-governing status, makes Disney live under the same laws as everybody else, and ensures that Disney pays its debts and fair share of taxes.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Walt Disney Company for comment shortly after the bill was signed into law by DeSantis, but the company did not respond to the request.
Amid the feud, an interesting tidbit about DeSantis’s past involving the magic kingdom came to light. In what he conceded was an “ironic choice,” DeSantis and his wife Casey were married at Walt Disney World in 2009. His only condition for agreeing to the venue was that the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck not be part of the event.
“My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding. I wanted our special day to look and feel like a traditional wedding,” DeSantis said in his book.
