Disney is the posterchild for woke corporations trying to flex their muscle in the culture war.
But Disney paid a price for their unrestrained political activism.
And Disney lost one big court case that will have you grinning from ear to ear.
Trump appointee Judge Allen Winsor threw out Disney’s challenge to legislation Ron DeSantis signed stripping Disney of its special tax privileges and the ability to operate as its own government by putting the Reedy Creek Improvement District – where Disney is located – under the control of a board appointed by the governor.
Disney claimed this bill targeted their First Amendment right to political speech, but Judge Winsor correctly ruled that Disney doesn’t have a constitutional right to tax breaks or special powers and whatever favors the government granted could be taken away.
DeSantis signed the legislation after then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek tried to kill a bill that banned teachers in grades K-3 from brainwashing students into the transgender lifestyle through sexually inappropriate lesson plans.
Disney promised to appeal the decision.
“This is an important case with serious implications for the rule of law, and it will not end here,” a statement from Disney read.
Disney also falsely claimed that “left unchallenged, this would set a dangerous precedent and give license to states to weaponize their official powers to punish the expression of political viewpoints they disagree with.”
“We are determined to press forward with our case,” the statement concluded.
The DeSantis team took a victory lap.
“As stated by Governor DeSantis when he signed HB 9-B, the Corporate Kingdom is over. The
days of Disney controlling its own government and being placed above the law are long gone,”
DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern stated.
“The federal court’s decision made it clear that Governor DeSantis was correct: Disney is still just one of many corporations in the state, and they do not have a right to their own special government,” Redfern added. “In short — as long predicted, case dismissed.”
Up to this point, Democrats had a successful playbook.
Democrats forced establishment Republican Governors Mike Pence and Pat McCrory in Indiana and North Carolina to back down in 2015 and 2016 on a religious freedom bill and legislation banning biological males from using the girls’ bathroom by enlisting woke corporations into the culture war.
Once big companies began threatening economic boycotts, establishment Republicans lost their nerve.
The last straw was Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams successfully pressuring Major League Baseball to remove the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to protest Georgia’s new election integrity law.
Ron DeSantis established a new template to fight back against woke corporations.
And the courts correctly ruled it constitutional.
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