2023-05-19 01:48:32
Disney throws in the towel. In the midst of a political battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the group announced Thursday that it was giving up building a nearly $900 million campus in that state near its amusement park. The American entertainment giant, which recently committed significant cost reductions, justifies its decision by a new business environment since the announcement of the project in 2021, with in particular a new general manager and “the evolution of economic conditions according to a memo to employees.
For these reasons, “we have decided not to proceed with the construction of the campus”, writes Josh D’Amaro, the manager of amusement parks. The decision also comes against the backdrop of strong political tensions with local authorities. They consider the company too progressive since its leaders publicly denounced, in 2022, a bill that restricted the teaching of subjects related to sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida elementary schools. .
“Targeted Revenge”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising star of the American hard right who has launched an offensive against a supposed “woke” culture, ended in February the special status that Disney had enjoyed in his state since the 1960s. The governor has also publicly mentioned the construction of a prison near Disney World or new taxes on hotels on the site, which employs 75,000 people and attracts 50 million visitors a year.
Disney responded by filing a complaint, saying it was “targeted revenge” against him to punish him for exercising his “freedom of expression”. A sign of the political scope of the conflict, Donald Trump’s teams put forward on Thursday a message from the former president predicting, in April, that Disney would probably announce economic retaliation measures. Ron DeSantis “gets completely destroyed by Disney”, he wrote then.
A figure of the populist right in the United States, Ron DeSantis is widely seen as Donald Trump’s most serious competitor for the Republican primary preceding the next presidential elections. According to the American media, the governor of Florida could soon announce his candidacy for this election.
Critics on the right
His row with Disney, however, is beginning to generate criticism on the right, with some Republicans lambasting an anti-corporate fight that goes against their party’s tradition. The head of Orange County, which includes the city of Lake Nona where the campus was to be located, thus deemed Disney’s decision “regrettable”. But “it’s a predictable consequence when the working environment between the State of Florida and the business community is not inclusive and collaborative,” said Jerry Demings.
Since the 1960s, Disney had enjoyed a special status with many advantages – administrative facilities, self-management of the site, advantageous loans, etc. The group had announced in July 2021 its intention to ask more than 2,000 employees to move to Florida. This project was led by the former CEO, Bob Chapek, replaced in November 2022 by Bob Iger when Disney’s results were weakened by the weak performance of the group’s streaming platform, Disney +.
The cost of the campus, according to press reports, was estimated in 2021 at $864 million. The decision to abandon this project “was not easy to make, but I believe it is the right one”, notes Josh D’Amaro in the memo Thursday.
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