As the legal battle between The Walt Disney Company and Ron DeSantis continues, the Florida Governor’s team has filed a new motion, questioning the impartiality of the Court in the case.
Florida has become the battlefield for one of the most discussed conflicts of the last years, with Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company embroiled in a year-long battle over the Reedy Creek Improvement District that has forced Disney to take drastic actions across the company, including canceling million-dollar projects in Florida, and caused fear among fans, questioning if visiting Walt Disney World Resort is safe given the latest developments.
And as the conflict continues and lawsuits fly back and forth among both parties, it seems like the Florida Governor’s legal team fears that The Walt Disney Company may get the upper hand, as they have filed a new motion to disqualify Chief Judge Mark E. Walker in the case against Disney, arguing that “the Court’s impartiality in this matter might reasonably be questioned.”
Journalist Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin), who tweets about theme parks, entertainment, “and some politics,” shared the motion through his Twitter account.
NEW: The DeSantis legal team has filed a motion to disqualify Chief Judge Mark E Walker in the case vs. Disney. pic.twitter.com/e8SpSY93Ct
DeSantis’ legal team argues that the Court — Chief Judge Mark E. Walker — has previously made remarks implying that DeSantis is trying to retaliate against Disney “based on Disney’s viewpoints” and could “reasonably imply that the Court has prejudged the retaliation question here.”
The motion cites two unrelated cases in which Disney has been brought up, including comments regarding “[Taking] away Disney’s special status because they’re woke,” and suggests that “the Court should recuse itself and order that the case be reassigned to another judge.” You can read the filing here.
After several rounds of layoffs, The Walt Disney Company will once again be firing hundreds of its employees.
We first learned of Disney’s mass-layoff plan back at The Walt Disney Company’s Q1 earnings call. Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the bombshell, declaring that around 7,000 jobs would be cut as a part of this company-wide restructuring. During the call, The Walt Disney Company shared its ginormous profits, posting an increase of 35% on the Parks side of things. This translated into $2.1 billion from Disney’s collection of Parks alone.
These layoffs have come in phases, with the third round of planned layoffs starting today, May 22, 2023. This third round is expected to affect roughly 2,500 positions via Deadline.
The layoffs were not expected to hit the theme park division hard, though they have been affected. The target of this third round is not specified.
Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro stated that he did not expect the layoffs to affect hourly workers on the front lines at Walt Disney World. Things have been shaky for Disney ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From its stock price dropping to losing subscribers on its streaming platform, Disney has been in some hot water over the last few years.
One of Disney’s biggest controversies and, ultimately, one of its biggest failures can be found in the now-defunct Galactic Starcruiser. Earlier this month, Disney revealed that it would be permanently closing this immersive Star Wars-themed hotel experience.
The ambitious location will be closing for good in September of 2023, meaning it will have only been operating for about a year and a half. As for what Disney will do with the unused space, only time will tell. But it’s safe to say Disney lost a significant chunk of change on this admirable experiment.
Disney CEO Bob Iger had some very exciting things to say at Disney’s earnings call.
At today’s Q2 earnings call, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger teased the development of future theme park expansions. “And we have a number of other growth and expansion opportunities at our parks… and we are closely evaluating where it makes the most sense to direct future investments,” stated Iger.
You heard it from the man himself, Disney is “closely evaluating” where to expand next, and we could not be happier to hear this news!
Obviously, these statements are quite vague, but it’s incredibly exciting to hear Iger talk about future expansions. In other Q2 earnings news, the Disney theme parks brought in over $7 billion in revenue, beating estimations by a considerable amount.
At last year’s Disney D23 Expo, Disney teased several exciting projects, including franchises and brands like Marvel and Avatar. Josh D’Amaro, Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, informed audience members that Disney was toying with the idea of completely overhauling DinoLand U.S.A. at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. This land allows Guests to take a trip back in time and learn about prehistoric life.
Concept art of the overhaul showed an entirely new land featuring Moana and Zootpia-themed experiences, rides, and attractions. We would be incredibly sad to see this opening-day land go extinct, especially when considering this overhaul may mean the permanent closure of DINOSAUR, one of Disney’s scariest and most adrenaline-pumping attractions.
However, as a Disney Parks fan, you have to be prepared to say goodbye in order for them to grow, change and evolve.
Disney CEO Bob Iger says he’s very open to sitting down with Florida’s governor to discuss the ongoing and escalating battle between the entertainment giant and the Sunshine State.
Last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger was named among TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, an honor that the publication bestows upon artists, philanthropists, musicians, actors, athletes, and corporate and political leaders whose influence has been instrumental in shaping the year’s events. On TIME’s 2023 list, Iger rubs elbows with 99 other influential people around the world, including Super Bowl LVII MVP Patrick Mahomes, star of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal, singer-songwriter Beyonce, Tesla founder-turned-Twitter-owner Elon Musk, and Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has been named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2023. In the interview, Iger discusses layoffs, DeSantis, and how he has been at Disney for 50 of the 100 years. pic.twitter.com/mBBOrFDzHv
During an interview with the magazine, Iger discussed the ways in which he is managing the current phase of The Walt Disney Company’s journey, where he goes when he needs advice, and whether he actually feels like he is influential. He also touched on the current battle between The Walt Disney Company and the state of Florida–a battle that began in early 2022 and continues to escalate.
“I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us,” Iger told TIME.
Since March 2022, a battle has been brewing between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company, beginning when Disney stuck its proverbial nose into Florida politics. Disney took a loud and public stance of opposition to an education bill passed by the Florida legislature.
Only weeks before, Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek reportedly attempted to steer clear of meddling in Florida politics, but after pressure from some of the Cast Members within the company, he caved, ultimately speaking out against the proposed legislation just before it passed. Following the signing of the bill into law, Chapek issued yet another public statement of opposition to the bill that Disney felt simply should have never been made law.
In retaliation, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district incepted in the late 1960s that effectively allowed Disney World to execute its own practices of self-government. As time marched on toward July 1, 2023–the date on which the law was to go into effect–the storm between the Sunshine State and the House of Mouse seemed to calm a bit.
But the battle has been reignited in recent weeks, becoming even louder than ever.
In his interview with TIME, Iger said he’s completely open to sitting down with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in an effort to talk out their differences.
“If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that,” Iger said.
At this time, Governor DeSantis has yet to respond to Iger’s offer, and as this is a developing situation, updates will be shared as they become available.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District will have a busy meeting on April 19, during which they will discuss their resolution for “Superior Authority” and meet with legal counsel regarding Disney and Reedy Creek Improvement District’s last-minute agreements.
The meeting agenda includes a report from the board’s general counsel and a presentation by the litigation counsel. The board has hired lawyers Cooper & Kirk, whose proposed costs were $795/hour, and Lawson, who was $495/hour. There will also be a presentation by the Public Resources Advisory Group (PRAG) and a presentation regarding state oversight.
New business includes “Direction to District staff and PRAG to cooperate with Inspector General’s investigation.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered Melinda Miguel, Chief Inspector General of the State of Florida, to investigate potential civil and criminal violations of Walt Disney World and the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District Board of Supervisors.
Resolutions No. 638 and No. 639 are on the public hearings portion of the agenda. Resolution No. 630 creates “rules and procedures for the Board of Supervisors and governing procedures, conduct and decorum for meetings of the board; providing for severability, conflicts and an effective date.”
Resolution No. 639 is the one previously reported on that would amend article 6, chapter 6-90 and article 7, chapters 7-20 and 7-30 of the RCID Land Development Regulations. These amendments ensure the new board has authority over the “reviewing, processing, evaluating, commenting on and approving, approving with conditions or denying applications for development orders throughout the District, including within the jurisdictional limits of City of Lake Buena Vista and the City of Bay Lake.”
A second reading and public hearing are set for April 26, 2023. Experts say this resolution may not be effective in taking control from Disney.
Also as previously reported, the Board of Supervisors is planning to replace the current Planning Board. “Remove from office and terminate all Planning and Zoning Board members and appoint the Board of Supervisors to serve as the local planning agency” is on the agenda, assuming Resolution No. 639 will pass. This means the Board of Supervisors would be “the final decision-making authority for the District” and that “no further administrative appeal is available” after the board has made a decision. The members of the Planning Board have term limits of three years, but the Board of Supervisors plans to remove term limits.
Following that agenda item is “Discussion and potential action regarding the selection of an urban planning firm to assist the District in the review and evaluation required by the District’s enabling act.”
Business also includes adding a Fourth Amendment to the Tide Bay Solar Facility PPA and “Board discussion and potential action regarding direction to District staff and legal counsel and priorities of the Board for future agendas.”
Other business is an executive session on union negotiations, which is a closed meeting.
DeSantis v. Disney
While tensions cooled between Governor DeSantis and Disney as last year came to a close, the spark reignited once again earlier this year when Disney passed several laws which restricted the power of his newly-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, designed to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The new board was designed as retaliation for Disney’s outspoken response to a bill last year which restricted educators from teaching any LGBTQ+-related concepts to students.
Though they were publicly available, Reedy Creek and Disney’s final agreements shocked DeSantis and his board, who expressed disbelief at Disney’s actions and retained multiple law firms to fight the agreement in court. DeSantis later ordered a criminal investigation into Disney and the old board.
At the time, the Executive Office of the Governor reached out to WDWNT with this statement from Communications Director Taryn Fenske:
“The Executive Office of the Governor is aware of Disney’s last-ditch efforts to execute contracts just before ratifying the new law that transfers rights and authorities from the former Reedy Creek Improvement District to Disney. An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law. We are pleased the new Governor-appointed board retained multiple financial and legal firms to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior.”
Disney responded with their own statement:
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida Government in the Sunshine law.”
At Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Bob Iger accused Gov. DeSantis of punishing Disney for exercising their right to free speech. “We love the state of Florida,” he said, citing the company’s various investments in the community over the years and saying he respected and appreciated what the state has done for Disney in the past. “Any action that thwarts these efforts simply to retaliate is anti-business and anti-Florida.”
DeSantis also promised to double down on his efforts to punish Disney through methods both in the Legislature and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board. Notably, he promised to hike Disney’s hotel taxes and institute tolls on the roads around Walt Disney World Resort property now administered by the CFTOB.
In an interview with Time, Iger said, “If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that.”
