The towel is burning between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The American entertainment giant announced on Thursday, May 18, that the group was giving up building a nearly $900 million campus in the state near its amusement park. The group recently initiated significant cost reductions, justifies its decision by a new business environment since the announcement of the project in 2021, with in particular a new general manager and “the evolution of the economic situation”, according to a memo addressed to employees.
For these reasons, “we have decided not to continue with the construction of the campus”, writes Josh D’Amaro, the manager of amusement parks.
Disney accused of wokism
The decision also comes against the backdrop of strong political tensions with local authorities. They consider the company too progressive since its leaders publicly denounced, in 2022, a bill that restricted the teaching of subjects related to sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida elementary schools. .
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising star of the American hard right who has launched an offensive against a supposed “woke” culture, ended in February the special status that Disney had enjoyed in his state since the 1960s.
The governor has also publicly mentioned the construction of a prison near Disney World or new taxes on hotels on the site, which employs 75,000 people and attracts 50 million visitors a year. Disney responded by filing a complaint, saying it was “targeted revenge” against him to punish him for exercising his “freedom of expression”.
Tough political battle between Trump and DeSantis
A figure of the populist right in the United States, Ron DeSantis is widely seen as Donald Trump’s most serious competitor for the Republican primary preceding the next presidential elections. According to US media, the Governor of Florida may soon announce his 2024 presidential bid.
And a sign of the political significance of the dispute with Disney, Donald Trump railed against Ron DeSantis in a statement on Thursday, accusing him of having lost the group’s investment “all alone”, because the governor would be “too weak to fight for its state”. “Ron DeSantis’ failed conflict with Disney hasn’t really helped his phantom and wobbly campaign,” added the Republican billionaire.
An “anti-business” fight?
Criticism over the row had already begun to emerge on the right, with some Republicans lambasting an anti-corporate fight that goes against their party’s tradition. On the Democratic side, the head of Orange County – which includes the city of Lake Nona where the campus was to be located – deemed Disney’s decision “regrettable”.
But “it’s a predictable consequence when the working environment between the State of Florida and the business community is not inclusive and collaborative,” said Jerry Demings.
Since the 1960s, Disney had enjoyed a special status with many advantages – administrative facilities, self-management of the site, advantageous loans, etc. The group had announced in July 2021 its intention to ask more than 2,000 employees to move to Florida.
This project was led by the former CEO, Bob Chapek, replaced in November 2022 by Bob Iger when Disney’s results were weakened by the weak performance of the group’s streaming platform, Disney +. The cost of the campus, according to press reports, was estimated in 2021 at $864 million. The decision to abandon this project “was not easy to make, but I believe it is the right one”, noted Josh D’Amaro in the memo on Thursday.