This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
‘No corporation should be its own government’
Disney is dropping its lawsuits against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, apparently giving up its fight against his decision to pull the massive corporation’s special status as its own government that was granted to the Magic Kingdom years ago.
The fight over Disney’s authority to run the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which essentially made it its own government, erupted because of the company’s attacks on the state for trying to protect children in schools from the influences of an LGBT ideology.
Disney officials repeatedly blasted the state for what critics, inaccurately, have called a new “Don’t Say Gay” law that actually doesn’t say that. It just, as its name states, provides “Parental Rights in Education.”
The state of Florida responded to the attack by canceling Disney’s Reedy Creek authorities and replacing it with a new state board to govern the district, putting Disney on the same level as other companies in Florida.
Now a report from the Daily Mail reveals Disney is dropping its legal actions opposing DeSantis’ moves.
The report called the decision “a major win” for the new board overseeing the land of Disney.
“The settlement agreement on Wednesday includes Disney acknowledging eleventh hour deals it made with the outgoing Reedy Creek Improvement District are now null and void,” the report said.
At the time the new state district was being created, Disney reached special deals with the old Reedy Creek board, which it controlled, to take over a long list of governmental functions under the new board.
The report noted, “Walt Disney Co. made these last-ditch efforts in an attempt to solidify property rights and grant the theme park additional powers as DeSantis appointed a new board to oversee the area and hold the corporation accountable to laws and taxes in Orlando.”
It was then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek who publicly attacked the governor’s policies on education and specifically his plans for protecting parental rights in education.
“No corporation should be its own government,” DeSantis’ communications director, Bryan Griffin, said of the action on the lawsuits.
He said, “Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the district to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”
The report said the settlement sees Disney acknowledging the invalid nature of its special deals with the now-defunct Reedy Creek district.
The new district is the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board.
Disney, long a staple for children’s entertainment, in recent years has gone more and more “woke,” injecting social agendas into its products, which frequently have been huge disappointments commercially.
Copyright 2024 WND News Center
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