SNL Takes Aim at Ron DeSantis With Gay Jafar

Things are still heating up in the battle between controversial Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company. If you haven’t been keeping a close watch, here’s a recap. Last year, Florida passed its Parental Rights in Education bill — also called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Then-CEO Bob Chapek denounced the bill and said Disney would fight it. That launched the biggest fight Florida has had with the House of Mouse. It seemingly reached its apex when DeSantis and the Florida legislature dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement Act.

At that point, it seemed that Governor DeSantis had come out on top. Disney’s ability to self-govern had been terminated. A new board — hand-picked by the Governor — was set to take control. However, in late March, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Committee — the Reedy Creek board’s new name — discovered something shocking. Reedy Creek had made a land deal with Disney to oversee the Walt Disney World Resort area. A clause had been added to the deal that guaranteed Disney control of the land until 21 years after the death of the last living descendant of King George III.

DeSantis and the board were livid. Both vowed to take action against Disney. The board is preparing to sue, and DeSantis has launched an investigation into the agreement. However, it is unlikely that DeSantis and the board will have success. The Reedy Creek Board — and Disney — followed the letter of the law when getting the deal approved. It also doesn’t help that the bill that included the deal was signed into law by the Florida legislature. That indicates that they didn’t read the final bill before they signed it.

The country has been watching as the battle has intensified. And one group recently decided to throw their commentary into the mix. On April 7, the hit show Saturday Night Live! gave its thoughts on the fight in a hilarious way. During the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, Michael Che was joined by none other than Jafar from the film Aladdin.

Jafar — played by comedian Bowen Yang — spoke about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He also spoke about DeSantis’ “white cowboy boots”, being a “yoked Jafar”, and Florida taking race out of its conversations about Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks in schools. And the results were hilarious. You can watch the segment below.

Disney villain Jafar stops by the Update desk to talk Ron DeSantis

Disney villain Jafar stops by the Update desk to talk Ron DeSantis pic.twitter.com/ftjXNaLKfX

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 9, 2023

Fans loved the segment and loved the way Yang portrayed one of Disney’s most iconic villains.

Bowen deserves an Emmy for this.

Bowen deserves an Emmy for this.

— kywolf98 (@kywolf98) April 9, 2023

Others wanted Yang to play Jafar in an Aladdin spinoff.

Why do I feel like Bowen Yang should actually be playing Jafar IRL spin off of Aladdin?

https://twitter.com/TormentedSocial/status/1645205185990369282

While DeSantis may be targeting Disney, he didn’t always hate the House of Mouse. As Yang pointed out, in 2009, DeSantis married his wife Casey DeSantis, at the Wedding Pavilion at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. DeSantis himself has even acknowledged how ironic it is.

From a legal standpoint, experts don’t see that DeSantis or the Central Tourism Oversight Committee can do much to undo the deal agreed to between Reedy Creek and Disney. However, that won’t stop the governor and the board from going at it full steam. DeSantis has threatened new taxes on hotels and toll roads leading to Walt Disney World Resort. Disney’s current CEO, Bob Iger, has accused DeSantis of being anti-Florida.

Disney Fanatic will keep readers updated as the clash between Governor DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company continues to develop.