© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Disney said on Wednesday (April 26) that it is suing Ron DeSantis, the governor of the US state of Florida, over an alleged infringement of the company’s rights in his state, which houses the largest of its flagship theme parks, Disney World.
This move is being seen as part of a larger feud that has gone on for more than a year now between the world’s largest entertainment company and the governor, spanning issues of the rights of corporations, LGBT rights, children’s education and more.
The “fight” began last year, after Disney publicly opposed a Florida law that banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in primary classes. This has been termed as “Don’t Say Gay” law by its critics. The law’s supporters claim it is to allow parents a say in school education, while DeSantis has said schools should not be teaching kids about LGBTQ identities.
However, Disney’s opposition came after it initially maintained a silence in the run-up to the bill becoming a law, angering its LGBTQ employees. In March 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek condemned it in a statement and addressed his employees, saying, “It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry.”
DeSantis, in what was seen as a retaliation of sorts, then removed Disney World’s status as a ‘self-governing district’ – part of the perks it has enjoyed since it was established in the 1970s in the city of Orlando, Florida, and quickly became a popular tourist attraction. For over half a century, Disney’s parks, stretching across 25,000 acres, have managed to operate with a high degree of autonomy, with the freedom to control everything from road maintenance to building projects, Reuters reported. They also get some relief from taxes. Over 75,000 people are employed by Disney in the area as well.
In March 2023, a new law stripped Disney of this status. The governor also appointed a new board of supervisors that would oversee municipal services in the theme parks. But before it came in, the company pushed through a last minute agreement that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority, AP reported. The board has said Disney’s move was unlawful. Florida then passed a bill in the state senate that seeks to put the board’s changes back in place, though the law does not mention Disney by name. DeSantis has also talked about the need for more government oversight of the resort’s rides, as well as a suggestion to build a prison nearby.
In a short period of time, DeSantis has gone from a Donald Trump supporter to someone who is believed to be looking towards possibly contesting in the 2024 Presidential elections. According to AP, he has earned a reputation as a leader who sticks to his party’s ideology and gets things done quickly. Trump also reacted to the Disney feud, saying when the company moved to undo the state board’s influence, DeSantis was “outplayed, outsmarted, and embarrassed by Mickey Mouse”, the BBC reported.
For example, DeSantis removed mandatory mask requirements and quarantine restrictions in 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic saw a debate in the US about the need for such directives. Many Republicans, in particular, pointed to the losses suffered from keeping businesses closed. He has also supported making access to abortion more limited in his state.
All of this has led to the disagreements with Disney over the law being framed as DeSantis taking on the “woke” entities in the country. The term was initially used among Black Americans to signal vigilance in resisting racist policies and ideas, but is increasingly being used among conservative politicians to refer to anything that they believe goes too far against conservative ideals.
But there is some contradiction too, as being pro-business and anti-government regulation is also an important conservative belief. Here, the governor has said their fight is about Disney’s “special privileges”. “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,” said DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske.
The Disney lawsuit asks a federal judge to cancel the governor’s takeover of the theme park district, as well as the DeSantis oversight board’s actions, on the grounds that they were violations of the company’s free speech rights.
“Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the case said. “But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect… from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
Bob Iger, who has had a successful run as CEO in the past and is now back at the helm after replacing Chapek, has also said that any actions against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort was not only “anti-business” but “anti-Florida.”
Disney has also historically been a major political contributor in the state. In the 2020 election cycle, the company donated $4.8 million in total, including campaign funds to more than 100 individual Florida legislative members. The company also gave more than $900,000 to the state Republican party, along with $300,000 to the state Democratic party and $50,000 to DeSantis. In Chapek’s March 2022 statement, he said Disney would be “pausing all political donations”, pending a review of their funding policies.
