FL Governor Ron DeSantis urges Disney CEO, Bob Iger (pictured), to drop lawsuit – Courtesy: Shutterstock — Kathy Hutchins
Ron DeSantis, the presidential candidate who is trailing significantly in the polls, has a message for Disney CEO Bob Iger: You owe me.
A lawsuit filed by the Walt Disney Company in response to the Florida governor’s attempts to use a dispute with the state’s largest employer as a platform for his presidential campaign backfired.
DeSantis wants the past to be forgotten and has asked Iger to dismiss the case, noting their positive historical relationships. DeSantis has recently been under fire from Republican funders who support the free market for his “fatal error” targeting corporations.
“No one has made Disney more money recently than me, because during COVID they were open in Florida. They were locked shut in California,” he told CNBC in comments aired on Monday.
According to Disney’s fiscal 2020 and 2021 records, the company’s normally successful parks segment lost a combined $8.5 billion over the course of the two years. This doesn’t even take into account the roughly $600 million in additional costs for layoffs connected to severance.
Nevertheless, the 25,000-acre resort Walt Disney World, which is close to Orlando and is nearly 50 times bigger than California’s Disneyland, was able to reopen in the middle of July 2020, albeit with a number of precautionary steps to protect the public’s health and with a significantly reduced number of guests.
Disney, in contrast, stated outright that it was “extremely disappointed” that the state of California had refused to permit it to open its smaller theme park in Anaheim, California.
Disneyland was shuttered for more than 13 months before opening to visitors once more on April 30 of the following year.
DeSantis asks Iger to withdraw the legal action against Florida DeSantis, who on Monday quickly reminded Disney’s board that they had a friend in him when they needed it the most, now needs to solicit as many favors as he can.
In the surveys, Donald Trump now has a virtually insurmountable advantage. After the former president’s list of candidates cost the GOP important races in the November midterm elections, DeSantis was once the front-runner.
However, the governor’s reputation has suffered due to claims that he comes across as insincere, unrelatable, and wooden. He was almost completely overpowered by jeers Saturday while running for office at the Iowa State Fair.
DeSantis has turned his attention to Anheuser-Busch in an effort to close the gap in the hopes that the unfortunate beer manufacturer will prove to be an easier target.
On behalf of his state’s employee pension fund, he directed Florida officials to investigate the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the parent company of Bud Light, but he specifically stated that he would refrain from doing so in the case of Disney.
“We’ve basically moved on. They’re suing the state of Florida,” he said, speaking of Disney’s board during his CNBC interview on Monday. “They’re going to lose that lawsuit, so what I would say is, drop the lawsuit.”
Fortune was unable to quickly reach Disney, which has threatened to withdraw investment from the state amid charges of a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power,” for comment.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.