The Walt Disney Company is suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other state officials after months of conflict over a recent education law and DeSantis’s efforts to increase the state’s control over the company.
What the lawsuit claims: “A targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
The governor’s response: DeSantis’s communications director Taryn Fenske said the lawsuit is “another unfortunate attempt” by Disney to “undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law,” The Hill’s Jared Gans reported.
Gans provides some background: “DeSantis signed legislation at the end of February to end Disney’s power over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the 25,000 acres that Disney has owned and self-governed for decades.”
That law allowed DeSantis to appoint a board to govern the district, and that board voted to void development contracts Disney made.
Disney also previously criticized an education bill signed by DeSantis that restricts discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in public school instruction.
Read more on the DeSantis-Disney conflict here
