The feud between Disney and Florida governor Ron DeSantis continues to escalate as the board appointed to oversee Disney World’s special self-governing district has filed a lawsuit against the company.
The news comes just days after Disney filed its own lawsuit, suing the panel for stripping the company of its special Reedy Creek governing district in a move that Disney CEO Bob Iger described as “anti-Florida” and a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
According to a report by Forbes, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the five-member board appointed by DeSantis filed the lawsuit at the Tallahassee federal court on May 1.
“Since Disney sued us – yes, we didn’t sue Disney, Disney sued us – we have no choice now but to respond. Yes, we’ll seek justice in our own backyard,” board chair Martin Garcia told CNN.
The news comes after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a 10-year plan to invest US$17bn in the Orlando-based resort CREDIT: DISNEY
“This board is trying to bring new and better ideas on the district. It makes sense to all my friends on the right and left,” Garcia told NBC News .
The feud between DeSantis and Disney began in March 2022, after the company suspended political donations in Florida following public pressure in response to the state’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, which prevents teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ people and issues in schools.
Since then the feud has seen DeSantis take control of Disney World’s special governing district, and Disney invoke the Royal Lives Clause to strip the DeSantis-appointed board of its powers.
In a shareholders meeting in April, Iger decried DeSantis’s actions as “anti-business” before revealing a 10-year-plan that will see the company invest more than US$17bn (€15.3bn, £13.5bn) in the Orlando-based resort. 
