Ron DeSantis' Disney Feud Hands Gavin Newsom a Big Win

Disney is reportedly following through on threats to pull investments out of Florida amid the company's ongoing feud with the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, handing his political rivals a win in the process.

On Thursday, several news outlets reported the company planned to pull the plug on its proposed Lake Nona Town Center Project scheduled for construction in Orlando amid the state's ongoing lawsuits involving the governance structure of the company's special taxing district, which DeSantis targeted over concerns the company's content was too "woke" after it criticized controversial 2022 legislation commonly known as the state's "Don't Say Gay" law.

The news comes shortly after a veiled threat by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who during a recent earnings call with investors openly wondered whether the state "wants us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes or not?"

To date, the feud between the state and the entertainment giant has been a brutal one.

Last year, DeSantis signed a bill ending the special status Disney enjoyed in the area of its Florida theme parks, which had meant the company was largely self-governing. The governor appointed a new handpicked board of directors.

Disney later filed a federal civil case accusing DeSantis and the board members of political retribution after the DeSantis-appointed board voted to undo development contracts the company had struck. This month, DeSantis hammered another nail into the company after signing legislation voiding Disney's development deals entirely, a move that apparently put the company over the edge.

The loss of investment is a big one. Estimates from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the project would have brought more than 2,000 high-paying jobs to the region from Southern California—where the company previously located the jobs—and would have involved roughly $1 billion of investment. Some 200 Disney employees had already relocated to Florida from California, and could now be moving back to California.

It also appears to be a clear shot across the bow at Florida and its governor: The New York Times reported Thursday that the company still had approximately $17 billion earmarked for construction at its Orlando Disney World complex over the next decade—growth the newspaper reported would create an estimated 13,000 jobs.

However, "changing business conditions"—namely, the state's open hostility toward the company—has apparently put that in jeopardy, the Times reported. In a staff email announcing the canceled project Thursday, Josh D'Amaro, Disney's theme park and consumer products chairman, sounded less than certain about the company's ongoing investments in the state in the coming years.

"I hope we're able to," he said.

Newsweek has reached out to DeSantis' office for comment. In a statement provided to other media outlets Thursday, DeSantis' office said: "Given the company's financial straits, falling market cap, and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures."

In a recent interview with right-wing news network Newsmax, DeSantis largely said his aggressive posture toward the entertainment giant was working, claiming the company hadn't "made a peep" about the state's conservative policies since the feud began.

"And they tried to fight us on things like parents' rights and things that are really important to the people of Florida," he told the network on May 5. "We beat them on that. We signed a parents' rights bill and we've expanded protections and we've done a lot of stuff to go back and fight woke ideology."

"Since our skirmish last year, Disney has not been involved in any of those issues," he added. "They have not made a peep. That ultimately is the most important—that Disney is not allowed to pervert the system to the detriment of Floridians."

Others—including Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and the campaign of former President Donald Trump—mocked DeSantis over the pulled deal Thursday, with the latter saying in a tweet the governor's "weakness" contributed to the deal collapsing.

"The Culture Of Losing Continues," Trump's campaign wrote.

Newsom praised Disney, which had previously announced it would be leaving his state in favor of Florida's then-"pro-business" investment climate.

"Turns out, bigoted policies have consequences," Newsom wrote on Twitter. "That's 2,000+ jobs that will be welcomed back with open arms to the Golden State. Thank you for doing the right thing, Disney."

Others, however, saw Disney's disinvestment—and DeSantis' role in it—as a win for the Sunshine State.

"Disney won't move 2000 workers to Lake Nona, FL. So FL won't get 2000 blue voters? Another Ron DeSantis win!" tweeted DeSantis ally John Cardillo.