For all their fluffy, family-friendly rhetoric, Disney is not a company to be messed with. Their legal team is famously as well funded as some sports teams, and are known to be highly litigious and effective in court. Yet, this news doesn’t seem to have filtered down to Ron DeSantis, who’s recently been trying to wage a war against the House of Mouse — and it seems things have just become worse for the governor and wannabe Republican presidential nominee.
As per the New York Times (and numerous other outlets), the media conglomerate is suing Ron DeSantis for control over its vast Florida resort, citing “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” which it claims has been born of its criticism of a new, highly contentious state education law. The law in question is the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and is pretty regressive, even by Republican standards. While the law might have won DeSantis some fans in the bizzaro world of the right-wing media ecosystem, it’s really not playing well for him in the real world — nor in the legal one, it seems. The Marvel Studios owners are angry, and DeSantis won’t like it when Disney is angry.
This lawsuit stems from DeSantis attempting to take control of Disney’s special taxing district in Orlando, which encompasses Disney World and the surrounding properties. At the behest of the governor, Florida Republicans recently voted to get rid of the board that oversaw this special district, so they could be replaced by idealogues and cronies, like the man who thinks tap water is turning people gay. This new board would then have control of the area, stymying Disney’s ability to run many of its own affairs, as well as cutting off a source of its local power.
The megacorporation has already made some pretty hilarious moves to block this, including getting the outgoing board to agree to a new clause that would allow Disney to retain control of the district until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England.” That deal was signed Feb. 8, a day before the Florida legislature passed their bill that would have given control of the area to the new DeSantis-friendly board. Many believe DeSantis wanted to use this new power to stop Disney from commenting on cultural issues, like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion to jump to given his comments on the matter. A hint to the governor: maybe don’t talk about how you want revenge on a company for utilizing their First Amendment rights.
DeSantis hasn’t given up yet, though. For now, he’s had the Florida oversight board “void” the contract Disney made with the old board. He’s also been threatening plenty of other types of retaliation that will take place if he does gain control of the district, including floating the idea of building another amusement park right near Disney World and opening a new prison in the vicinity. He’s even implied he’ll take away Disney’s right to do their own ride safety inspections — a man of small government indeed.
Now, though, Disney is going on the attack in the way it knows best: via the American legal system. They’re arguing that DeSantis’ legislation regarding a new board is unlawful and impossible to enforce for a number of reasons, chief among them that it’s purely been “enacted in retaliation for Disney’s political speech in violation of the First Amendment.” We’re sure that the so-called free-speech warriors who seem to love DeSantis will be loudly congratulating Disney for its defense of this important American ideal.
Disney has also argued that this “targeted campaign of government retaliation… orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis… now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.” The company stated their King Charles pact doesn’t undermine local powers, claiming the contracts signed are basic land use agreements, and that they’re vital to “facilitate the certainty needed to ensure investment and effective commercial progress.” Again, if DeSantis and Republicans really were the party of enterprise, they probably wouldn’t be so keen to take down an American business titan like Disney.
The complaint goes on to say that “this government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional. But the Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop.” Strong words from Disney, and ones we’re sure will come back to haunt DeSantis as he continues his crusade against Mickey and co.
There have been plenty of mixed feelings on the issue from those who would normally support any takedown of DeSantis, especially given his strong anti-LGBTQ+ stance and terrifyingly staunch conservative views. As mentioned, Disney’s litigiousness has long been a source of discomfort for fans of the content it puts out, and its hardline actions to protect its intellectual property are often criticized by those on the left.
Many have also pointed out that while DeSantis being a bigot is a pressing issue, especially given the American political climate and the very real effects his rhetoric has on marginalized groups, effectively letting a company be its own government is a pretty dystopian thing to be celebrating — even if it is the company that brought us The Lion King. State and governmental control over regulations and other aspects of business are vital cogs in the machinery that keeps companies from being their worst selves, and even though the American lobbying system does effectively mean companies sometimes get to make their own laws — often to the detriment of society — at least there is currently some sort of check on corporate influence. If Disney wins its lawsuit, who knows how long that will hold up.
For now, though, we can be happy that we’ll get to see DeSantis dragged through the mud in court by some of the best and most vicious lawyers in the business. While we’re unsure how the case will end up, there’s no doubt it will cause untold damage to the Florida governor, and that’s an outcome most fair-minded people can get behind.
