DeSantis Calls Out Disney in Public, Plays Nice in Private

If you listened to all of the bluster coming from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Walt Disney Company would break any minute and beg him to forgive them. Disney’s “wokeness” has brought the company to ruin. Throughout his many stops around the country on his book tour, Governor DeSantis repeatedly said, “Florida is where wokeness goes to die.”

While that may be true in public, what happens behind closed doors isn’t necessarily the death of “wokeness.” While the Walt Disney Company is suing Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida over its removal of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney, and DeSantis had a mutually beneficial relationship before this dispute. In some ways, Disney still enjoys several legislative benefits from Florida and DeSantis.

USA Today reported that Disney has, in the past, and still does, received certain benefits from Florida on legislation Governor DeSantis supported and signed into law. In 2021, Florida lawmakers passed an anti-discrimination statute that penalized companies for engaging in viewpoint-based censorship on the internet. This law was the first part of DeSantis’ “anti-woke” campaign.

But buried within the legislation that exempted companies in Florida that owned a Theme Park larger than 25 acres. This would include the Walt Disney World Resorts, Universal Studios Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa. This seemed like an odd exemption, given that it was an internet-related bill, but those are three of the largest employers in the state.

Four Governor DeSantis staff members, including his director of legislative affairs and general counsel, lobbied for the loophole.

But that was in 2021, nearly a year before Disney spoke out against Florida’s “Don’t say gay” bill, which started this entire sage. But what about now? Good question.

Just this year, the Florida legislature passed new technology legislation that made it more difficult for tech companies to harvest data and personal information from Floridians. But, the law was written in such a way that it only applied to companies that own and operate internet properties, which Disney does, but only applies to them if more than 50 percent of the company’s revenue comes from online ads, which exempts Disney from the law.

Related: How’s this Going to End? Possibilities for a Disney/DeSantis Feud Ending 

Despite all of the public bluster, it seems that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis knows he cannot afford to anger his state’s largest employer, especially if he has ambitions beyond the governor’s mansion. The reality is that no matter what is said in public, Disney World can still do whatever it wants behind closed doors in Florida.

And Governor DeSantis can still stand in front of TV cameras and say that in Florida, he’s cracking down on “woke” companies. It is as it has always been, just this time with more lawyers.

We will continue to keep you updated on this story at Disney Fanatic.