A statue of Walt Disney and Micky Mouse stands in front of the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Jan. 9, 2019. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' oversight board of Disney World has voted to claw back authority over the company's theme park properties. The vote Wednesday, April 26, 2023, by the governor's appointees voids a last-minute deal that placed control of theme park design and construction decisions in Disney's hands. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File). Inset: Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Mickey Mouse has had enough.
A vote to void development contracts between the Walt Disney Company and the state of Florida appears to have been the last straw for the entertainment giant, which sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday after a year of escalating antagonism and strongly-worded threats. The complaint alleges that the governor has undertaken a campaign of retaliation over the company's opposition to a controversial 2022 education law.
Disney says in the complaint that it didn't want to sue and that it had tried to come to an agreement with DeSantis and his allies.
"Disney regrets that it has come to this," the complaint says. "But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials."
That "unpopular" political viewpoint: Disney's opposition to DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" law, which prohibits "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels or in a specified manner."
Opponents and LGBTQ+ advocates have said the bill is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Before DeSantis signed the bill into law, Disney's then-CEO Bob Chapek called the governor "personally to express [Disney's] concern," the complaint says. DeSantis reportedly recalled telling the CEO that he "shouldn't get involved" and that "it's not going to work out well for you."
The next day, DeSantis' campaign sent an email accusing "Woke Disney" of "echoing Democrat propaganda."
The day after that, Disney issued a statement: "To ALL who come to this happy place, welcome. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products is committed to creating experiences that support family values for every family, and will not stand for discrimination in any form. We oppose any legislation that infringes on basic human rights, and stand in solidarity and support our LGBTQIA+ Cast, Crew, and Imagineers and fans who make their voices heard today and every day."
After DeSantis signed the bill into law on March 28, Disney issued a statement saying that the legislation "never should have been signed into law" and that Disney wanted it to either be "repealed by the [L]egislature or struck down in the courts."
The statement also said that Disney "remains committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that."
DeSantis "announced that Disney's statement had 'crossed the line' — a line evidently separating permissible speech from intolerable speech — and launched a barrage of threats against the Company in immediate response," the complaint says.
A "campaign of punishment" followed suit, according to the complaint.
"Disney and other woke corporations won't get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer," DeSantis said in a fundraising email sent on April 20, adding that he would "not allow a woke corporation based in California to run our state[.]"
DeSantis also called a special session of the legislature for the "pretextual" reason of addressing redistricting. Its true purpose, according to the complaint, was to pass legislation that would fully dissolve the RCID as of June 1. Disney called the legislative process for passing both the House and Senate versions of the bill "highly unusual," lacking a firm plan for how to handle the RCID's assets and debt.
DeSantis allies in the state legislature made it clear that the purpose of the bill was to punish Disney, the company alleges.
"Disney is a guest in Florida," House sponsor Rep. Randy Fine announced, according to the complaint. "Today we remind them. [DeSantis] just expanded the Special Session so I could file HB3C which eliminates Reedy Creek Improvement District, a 50 yr-old special statute that makes Disney to [sic] exempt from laws faced by regular Floridians."
Fine said that the legislation was indeed aimed at the Mouse House.
"You kick the hornet's nest, things come up," Fine also said to the Florida House State Affairs Committee that same day, according to the complaint. "And I will say this: You got me on one thing, this bill does target one company. It targets The Walt Disney Company."
After the vote, Sen. Joe Gruters echoed the sentiment, the complaint says.
"Disney is learning lessons and paying the political price of jumping out there on an issue," Gruters said.
In the complaint, lawyers for the entertainment behemoth say that the company is suing not only for itself, but for smaller businesses that might not be able to fight against what it calls DeSantis' "targeted campaign" of retaliation.
"Disney finds itself in this regrettable position because it expressed a viewpoint the Governor and his allies did not like," the complaint says. "Disney wishes that things could have been resolved a different way. But Disney also knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State's retaliation — a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views. In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind."
According to Disney, that alleged punishment includes DeSantis' effort to dissolve the long-standing Reedy Creek Improvement District. The RCID has operated as "Disney's local governing jurisdiction" in central Florida since 1967; according to the complaint, it is key to making Disney "an unparalleled engine for economic growth" in the state, paying more than $1.1 billion in state and local taxes and employing more than 75,000 people.
DeSantis had "paid no mind to the governing structure that facilitated Reedy Creek's successful development until one year ago, when the Governor decided to target Disney," the complaint says. "There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so."
In late March, DeSantis' handpicked replacement oversight board — the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) — appeared to have discovered that certain contracts between Disney and the state were still in place; on Wednesday, the board voted to cancel those contracts.
That "latest strike" is what sparked the lawsuit, the complaint says.
"At the Governor's bidding, the State's oversight board has purported to 'void' publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney's investment dollars and thousands of jobs," the complaint says. "This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional."
The Disney lawyers say that this appears to be just the beginning for DeSantis.
"[T]he Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop," the complaint says. "The Governor recently declared that his team would not only 'void the development agreement' — just as they did today — but also planned 'to look at things like taxes on the hotels,' 'tolls on the roads,' 'developing some of the property that the district owns' with 'more amusement parks,' and even putting a "state prison" next to Walt Disney World."
Disney is alleging breach of contract and constitutional violations.
"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 complaint says. "And it is a clear violation of these rights for the CFTOD board to declare its own legally binding contracts void and unenforceable. Disney thus seeks relief from this Court in order to carry out its long-held business plans."
Disney is seeking declaratory judgment that the revocation of the contracts, along with the bills dissolving the RCID are unenforceable and unconstitutional, and that Florida must be held to the contracts. The corporation is seeking an injunction barring enforcement of both the agreements and the bills.
In addition to DeSantis, the complaint names Acting Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meredith Ivey, Centrail Florida Tourism Oversight District board Chair Martin Garcia, and other members of the state's tourism board as defendants.
DeSantis' office insisted that the governor's revocation of the RCID authorization is about corporate fairness.
"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," DeSantis communications director Taryn Fenske said in an email. "This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law."
The case is before U.S. District Judge Mark Eaton Walker, a Barack Obama appointee.
Read Disney's complaint below.
