Disney v Florida: Part One
- Feb 7
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 15
For decades the Walt Disney Company has represented the pinnacle of quality and artistic excellence in entertainment. Since it’s founding in 1923, it has developed an impressive portfolio of stories and characters beloved by millions around the globe.
Today Disney is recognized as a global entertainment powerhouse after undergoing a dramatic transformation under the leadership of Bob Iger who trail-blazed the company’s acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, and the studio’s expansion into streaming with Disney+ shortly before his departure in 2020.
Although Iger had long planned to retire, he repeatedly postponed his departure as shareholders and Disney’s board of directors continued to celebrate his accomplishments with contract extensions throughout his illustrious 15 year career as CEO.
Over time, I started listening less and maybe with a little less tolerance of other people’s opinions, maybe because of getting a little bit more overconfident in my own, which is sometimes what happens when you get built up…It wasn’t the reason I left, but it was a contributing factor.”
Bob Iger
With guidance from the board, Iger would appoint Bob Chapek (then Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products) as his successor on February 25 2020 and assumed the role of CEO the same day. Chapek was chosen for his success in leading Disney’s park experiences: increasing revenue, opening new lands (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Cars Land, Avengers Campus, World of Frozen, Zootopia Land), launching Shanghai Disneyland, licensing consumer products, cutting costs.
“The Board has been actively engaged in succession planning for the past several years, and after consideration of internal and external candidates, we unanimously elected Bob Chapek as the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Mr. Chapek has shown outstanding leadership and a proven ability to deliver strong results across a wide array of businesses, and his tremendous understanding of the breadth and depth of the Company and appreciation for the special connection between Disney and its consumers makes him the perfect choice as the next CEO.”
The Walt Disney Company
Bob Chapek assumed the role of CEO shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a sudden standstill; effectively shutting down theme parks, cinemas, and film production across the globe. Like many companies, Disney was forced to navigate unprecedented challenges, working tirelessly to maintain operations and productivity in the face of global disruption.
In its history, Disneyland had only ever closed for 3 days until the pandemic forced it to shutdown for 13 months (a total of 412 days). Disney World in Orlando, however, would close for just 116 days, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ policies adopted a far looser approach to COVID-19 restrictions, granting the park greater flexibility to operate. This was in direct contrast to the guidance of Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases who had advised seven U.S. presidents during major public health crises.
2021
As national efforts to return to normalcy began and pandemic restrictions gradually eased, Disney in July 2021 announced plans to relocate jobs from its Imagineering department—part of the Parks, Experiences, and Products division—from its Burbank, California headquarters to Orlando, Florida over the following 18 months. The decision was immediately met with resistance from employees who were unwilling to uproot their lives and relocate across the country.
2022
A few months later in early 2022, Florida House representative Joe Harding introduced HB1557 the “Parental Rights Education Bill” (also known as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”) prohibiting the discussion of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in schools from kindergarten to third grade unless “age or developmentally appropriate.”
By this time, Ron DeSantis, two years into his governorship became a strong and vocal advocate for the bill.
The bill prompted swift national backlash and immense media coverage as it moved through the Florida legislature—quickly developing into a situation The Walt Disney Company could not ignore.
Trouble starts brewing for Disney
As one of the most beloved and powerful companies in the world—especially in the state of Florida—many wanted Chapek as CEO to speak out against the bill. His response would be a critical testament to the progressive and inclusive brand Iger had built, but Chapek’s silence was a dark looming shadow difficult to ignore.
In February Bob Iger would be first to comment in rebuke of Chapek’s approach through a tweet in response to President Biden; both in agreement expressing concern the bill would put young LGBT people in jeopardy.
In early March various publications reported Disney had made political donations to each sponsor of HB 1557 including a $125,000 donation to the Republican Party of Florida on the day of the bill’s introduction and an additional $25,000 days later on January 26, fueling further anger from its critics. In fairness, Disney has historically made bipartisan political donations, more so towards Democrats.
While the Walt Disney Company remained silent Equality Florida released a signed letter on February 28, featuring more than 150 companies—including Marriott, Hilton, American Airlines, and AirBnb—publicly opposing Florida’s legislation.
By this point, relocating to Florida had understandably became an even greater point of contention for Disney employees.
With each passing day the noise became louder and difficult to ignore: Disney employees, high profile creative talent, advocacy organizations (such as the HRC, GLAAD, Equality Florida), news organizations (including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times) and online campaigns criticized Chapek as a weak leader out of touch with Disney’s legacy, demanding he speak out.
After weeks of mounting pressure, Chapek would break his silence on March 7th with an internal memo titled “Our Unwavering Commitment to the LGBTQ+ Community” to Disney employees. Chapek shared he had been having “extraordinary” conversations with DeSantis for the past few weeks and while unsuccessful in his efforts, he believed Disney could best make efforts against the bill behind-the-scenes as “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds.”
“As we have seen time and time again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds. Instead, they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame. Simply put, they can be counterproductive and undermine more effective ways to achieve change.”
Bob Chapek
Read Chapek’s full letter here!
Chapek’s statement only incited further backlash. Frustrated employees, unable to speak directly with the media, organized walk outs and held demonstrations outside Disney’s corporate offices in Burbank, Glendale, and other Florida Disney properties.
On a March 9th shareholder meeting Chapek shared that he had spoken with DeSantis to "express our disappointment and concern” and announced all political donations would be paused in the state of Florida. In addition, Chapek reaffirmed Disney's commitment to protecting the LGBT community with a pledged $5 million donation to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which would go on to refuse the donation until the company took meaningful action against the legislation.
“The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money from Disney until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure that dangerous proposals, like Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ bill, don’t become dangerous laws,”
Joni Madison, interim president of the HRC
On March 10th, Pixar employees published a scathing—and undeniably well-curated—open letter in response to the shareholder meeting that highlighted the serious disconnect between Disney’s actions and the values it claimed to uphold. Among the issues:
Disney’s history of shutting down fan-created Pride events in the parks; official Pride celebrations beginning only recently in 2019 and exclusively in Disneyland Paris; and overt LGBT merchandise such as Pride flag pins weren’t introduced until 2021.
Chapek’s claim that “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes and minds,” yet pointing out that the same memo opened with a statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—an issue Disney responded to eight days after the invasion by pausing theatrical releases in Russia. Pixar also noted Disney’s political influence in 2016, which helped shape the vetoed outcome of Georgia’s Religious Liberty bill.
Revealing that LGBT stories and characters had been repeatedly stripped down, with nearly every moment of overtly gay affection cut following Disney corporate reviews—despite objections from Pixar’s creative teams and leadership. “Even if creating LGBT content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.”
Read the full letter here!
The same day DeSantis spoke to supporters and in response to Chapek stated, “Woke Disney is now echoing Democrat propaganda and falling for the corporate media’s phony hysteria over a Florida bill that sensibly prohibits K through third graders from being indoctrinated with transgenderism and R-rated lessons about sexuality.”
Take a look at footage shared by Kelly Laco on Twitter: (WARNING: Lower your volume!)
The following day on March 11th as tensions refused to settle, Chapek formally apologized to employees in another memo lamenting his silence.
“Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was. It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry.“
Bob Chapek
Read the full letter here!
DeSantis signs HB 1557
DeSantis would sign the HB 1557 into law on March 28 2022, igniting nationwide outrage and condemnation.
Disney shortly after the bill’s signing released a statement saying the bill “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”
The Walt Disney Company
The beginning of targeted attacks by DeSantis
Disney’s statement would be a catalyst to a prolonged period of unrelenting political retaliation by a displeased DeSantis who claimed the company had “crossed the line.”
“…For Disney to come out and put a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and that they are going to actively work to repeal it. I think one was fundamentally dishonest, but two I think that crossed the line. This state is governed by the interest of the people of the state of Florida. It is not based on the demands of California corporate executives. They do not run this state, they do not control this state.”
Ron DeSantis
DeSantis terminates Disney’s special district
The following month DeSantis requested the termination of Disney’s long standing 25,000-acre special tax “Reedy Creek” district established in May 1967. Within 48 hours, legislation was passed in the Florida House and Senate and signed by the governor on _ declaring a calculated end to all special districts created before November 1968 beginning June 2023.
Although Florida has over 1,900 existing independent and dependent special districts, DeSantis claimed Disney had enjoyed unfair special privileges and was effectively operating as its own government.
The special district granted Disney World the authority to self-govern and thereby efficiently manage the park—including their own utilities such as water, power, roads, and waste—without relying on local governments. In addition, Disney had the power to regulate zoning, approve building and construction projects, and exercise taxing and debt authority without outside interference. Moving forward, Disney faced having to seek approval from potentially hostile Republican lawmakers and local taxpayers and the residents of Orange and Osceola County would be financially responsible for the district’s utilities.
DeSantis reelected in historic landslide victory
The conflict between Disney and Governor DeSantis escalated in the lead-up to Florida’s November 2022 gubernatorial election. DeSantis ultimately secured reelection in a historic landslide, flipping several counties including Miami-Dade—a Democratic stronghold since 2002—and Palm Beach, which had voted blue since 1986. He won by a 19.4% margin (approximately 1.5 million votes), a dramatic increase from his narrow 0.4% victory in 2018 (around 32,000 votes).
The victory cemented DeSantis not only as a political figure but a demagogue for conservative values in the culture wars he not only decried but actively propagated to his advantage. His influence had extended far beyond Florida; by reelection, more than a dozen states had proposed legislation similar to HB 1557.
The governor’s well publicized defiance against COVID-19 restrictions along with Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence had transformed Florida from a swing state to a defined firmly red identity. DeSantis proudly declared in his reelection speech “Florida is where woke goes to die!”
Chapek fired, Iger reinstated
Chapek would have his contract extended for three years in June 2022 before being abruptly fired months later in November 2022 and Bob Iger would be reinstated to serve as a two-year interim CEO tasked to improve the company—his contract since extended through 2026.
Moving forward, Iger’s reappointment marked a turning point for Disney and bring about stronger push back against DeSantis and greater efforts to improve the company’s image.
