The Disney-DeSantis Feud Ends With a Whimper

Members of a DeSantis-aligned board came to an agreement with the Walt Disney Company after a yearslong legal fight.

Ron DeSantis’s yearslong legal battle against Disney appears to have reached an anticlimactic end.

Allies of the Florida governor on a local board reached a settlement with the Walt Disney Company over a protracted dispute that stemmed from DeSantis’s takeover of the body two years ago.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board declared a past agreement that shifted power away from the board to Disney ahead of DeSantis’s planned takeover “null and void.” A plan from 2020 will be utilized instead with board members promising to consult the company when making any amendments. As part of the settlement, both sides agreed to drop their state lawsuits and counterclaims, including Disney’s 2023 suit over access to public records and its appeal of a previously dismissed federal lawsuit that alleges DeSantis retaliated against the company.

Politico reports that the agreement comes just as the board approved the appointment of Stephanie Kopelousos to lead the group. Per the outlet, Kopelousos is seen by Florida political insiders as a qualified candidate whom Disney could work with owing to her background as DeSantis’s director of legislative affairs.

The legal fight has its roots in 2022, when Disney came out against Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law amid internal protests from its employees over the company’s initially neutral stance. In response, DeSantis signed legislation that would dissolve what was then known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special district that encompasses Walt Disney World which gives the company outsized control and self-governance over the region and its municipal services. The governor tied his dispute with Florida’s most influential company into his ongoing “war on woke,” his heavy involvement in what students are allowed to learn in state schools. It was also a centerpiece of his unsuccessful presidential campaign.

As the governor handpicked his own allies to serve on the district’s five member board, the body’s outgoing members passed new measures stripping the board of many of its powers. Disney went on to sue DeSantis, alleging that the governor infringed upon the company’s right to free speech by retaliating against it after announcing its stance on the legislation.