Their divorce is definitively consummated: Disney filed a complaint on Wednesday against the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, equating the measures of the tenor of the American hard right, who ended the special status of the company in his state, to a “targeted revenge” campaign against the group.
A major employer in the region with its Disney World amusement park in Orlando, the entertainment giant was recently sanctioned by Mr. DeSantis for its progressive positions.
The governor, potential candidate for the White House, has made the fight against “wokism” one of his main battlegrounds. He accuses a group of “elite” of imposing their progressive ideology on a society that refuses it, and has pledged to protect it on its lands.
Not yet officially in the race for the Republican primary, this 44-year-old conservative carries his fight against Disney as a standard, in his speeches as in his recent autobiography, where the subject occupies an entire chapter.
In its complaint, Walt Disney Parks and Resort accuses Mr. DeSantis of having orchestrated a real “campaign” to carry out “targeted government revenge” against him, to punish him for having exercised his “freedom of expression”. This “now threatens Disney’s business activities, jeopardizes its economic future in the region and violates its constitutional rights”, argues the company.
Education and sexual orientation
The group had drawn the wrath of the governor last year, by denouncing a bill that restricts the teaching of subjects related to sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida elementary schools.
Since then, Mr. DeSantis in February removed the special status of Disney in his state, ending the advantages – administrative facilities, self-management of the site, favorable loans, etc. — which the Disney World theme park had enjoyed since the 1960s.
Following the decision, a tourism regulatory committee appointed by Mr. DeSantis on Wednesday approved the cancellation of a recently concluded commercial agreement with the park, which employs 75,000 people and attracts 50 million visitors a year.
Disney reacted by denouncing in its complaint “a measure of retaliation, manifestly anti-trade and manifestly unconstitutional”. The group believes that it “has no choice but to take this legal action to protect its employees, customers and partners”.
In early April, Disney boss Bob Iger publicly accused Ron DeSantis of taking an “anti-trade action” that violated the company’s “right to free speech.”
Disney plans to invest more than US$17 billion in Disney World over the next decade, creating more than 10,000 jobs and attracting even more tourists to Florida, he said.
“Any action to thwart these efforts simply to retaliate for a position taken by the company appears not only anti-trade, but also anti-Florida,” Iger said.
Prison near the park?
The Disney boss drew a parallel with certain positions taken by American companies in favor of the struggle for civil rights in the United States in the 1960s.
In its complaint, the group is concerned about the new retaliatory measures that Mr. DeSantis could take.
In mid-April, the governor publicly considered building a “state prison” near Disney World, or a competing amusement park. He also mentioned the idea of setting up additional taxes on the hotels on the site or road tolls around.
“I think the possibilities are endless,” he said brazenly at a press conference.
A figure of the populist right in the United States, Mr. DeSantis is widely seen as Donald Trump’s most serious competitor for the Republican primary.
His fight against Disney, however, is beginning to generate some criticism on the right. Some Republicans castigate an anti-business fight that goes against the tradition of their party, usually openly “pro-business”.