food IS a theme park
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has targeted a new industry.
Good Meat lab-grown chicken.
You might be familiar with DeSantis and his policies through his appointed board that oversees Disney World and the surrounding areas: the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board. Now, though, DeSantis is targeting a new industry outside of the theme parks: food.
Okay, let’s do the Sparknotes version of allllll the political battles Disney has found itself in lately when it comes to Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ©Deadline
After initially refusing to make a statement, Disney (under Bob Chapek’s time as CEO) made comments in opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law (what critics call “Don’t Say Gay”), indicating that the law should never have been passed and that Disney would work for its repeal.
Following this, in what many have seen as an act of retaliation, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature passed/signed a bill that will dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District — the special taxing district Disney has operated under for years that gives them a large amount of control over their land in Orlando.
Now, Bob Chapek is out of the Disney CEO position, and Bob Iger is back. We’ve already talked about what this could mean for Reedy Creek and Disney’s relationship with DeSantis, but now we’ve got a response from the Governor himself when it comes to Disney and Florida politics.
When you think of Disney, you may only think about their movies, merchandise, and theme parks. But, Disney and some of its current or former leaders can be very much involved in the community and political matters as well.
©The Walt Disney Company
In 2020, we saw Executive Chairman Bob Iger serve for a period of time on California’s Business Recovery Task Force, although he ultimately chose to leave it. Disney also donated millions to social justice nonprofit organizations last year.
In light of last week’s events at the Capitol, the Walt Disney Company has again decided to take action. The company has confirmed it will not make any political contributions to lawmakers who voted to reject the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden.
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