Disney World’s parent company is suing Governor Ron DeSantis and seven of his officials after the resorts operator exercised what it says is its First Amendment right to publicly disagree with the Florida Republican’s anti-LGBTQ law known as “Don’t Say Gay.”
In its damning 77-page lawsuit Walt Disney Parks and Resorts alleges that 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 most recent event that precipitated the filing of the lawsuit, Disney says, is the state’s decision to void contracts related to its Reedy Creek special district. That special district, in place for decades, allows Disney to effectively operate as its own government, while requiring it to provide almost all government services for the area.
“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,” Disney says.
The lawsuit provides numerous examples of what some might consider animus on the governor’s part, which in theory might bring a judge to rule against him.
“It is a clear violation of Disney’s federal constitutional rights—under the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the First Amendment—for the State to inflict a concerted campaign of retaliation because the Company expressed an opinion with which the government disagreed,” the lawsuit reads.
Noting it has “tens of thousands of Florida-based employees,” Disney says its CEO called Gov. DeSantis to express its “concern” over the bill.
Disney has documented some of DeSantis’ public animus against the company, in part thanks to DeSantis’ own memoir (bulleted points are direct quotes from the lawsuit):
• Governor DeSantis recounts thinking that “it was a mistake for Disney to get involved” and telling Disney’s then-CEO, “‘You shouldn’t get involved[;] it’s not going to work out well for you.’”
• On March 10, Governor DeSantis’s campaign sent an email accusing “Woke Disney” of “echoing Democrat propaganda.”
• Governor DeSantis’s memoir attacked Disney’s speech and petitioning activity for expressing the wrong viewpoint. “In promising to work to repeal the bill,” he asserted, “the company was pledging a frontal assault on a duly enacted law of the State of Florida.” As a consequence of its disfavored speech and petitioning, he declared, “[t]hings got worse for Disney.”
• As he recounts it in his memoir, “I needed to be sure that the Legislature would be willing to tackle the potentially thorny issue involving the state’s most powerful company. I asked the House Speaker, Chris Sprowls, if he would be willing to do it, and Chris was interested. ‘OK, here’s the deal,’ I told him. ‘We need to work on this in a very tight circle, and there can be no leaks. We need the element of surprise—nobody can see this coming.’”
• On April 20, Governor DeSantis sent a fundraising email warning that “Disney and other woke corporations won’t get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer” and that he would “not allow a woke corporation based in California to run our state[.]”
• Governor DeSantis’s memoir describes the attack on Disney with pride: “Nobody saw it coming, and Disney did not have enough time to put its army of high-powered lobbyists to work to try to derail the bill. That the Legislature agreed to take it up would have been unthinkable just a few months before. Disney had clearly crossed a line in its support of indoctrinating very young schoolchildren in woke gender identity politics.”
• Christina Pushaw, then Governor DeSantis’s press secretary, warned corporations that might consider expressing disfavored viewpoints, “Go woke, go broke.”
• “Governor DeSantis has reaffirmed, again and again, that the State campaign to punish Disney for its speech about House Bill 1557 has been a coordinated and deliberate one from the start. Disney’s commentary on House Bill 1557 was, he claimed, a “declaration of war” and “a textbook example of when a corporation should stay out of politics.”
Ultimately, Disney says, “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”