Credit: Inside the MagicAfter former Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, known by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was looking for ways to get back at The Walt Disney Company. DeSantis used the full power of the Governor’s office against the state’s largest employer.
He started by working with the Florida Legislature to remove the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Board that oversaw the Walt Disney World Resort since its inception. The Legislature passed a new law that would replace Reedy Creek with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and a Board made up entirely of DeSantis appointees.
However, now that the feud between Disney and the Governor is over, the two sides are playing nice, and Disney has decided to invest $17 billion in its Central Florida parks. DeSantis even installed an administrator who worked closely with Disney in the past to help smooth over any potential issues with Disney World’s expansion.
Disney and DeSantis also agreed to drop their dueling lawsuits against each other in Federal Court. Disney decided to drop its lawsuit against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in State Court.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly between the two. That is until a new story came to light about how DeSantis tried to punish Disney further during their feud.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, DeSantis instructed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District to look for criminal wrongdoing. According to the Governor’s office, the probe:
Focused on applicable civil and criminal laws, ethics requirements and the involvement of Walt Disney World employees and agents in the district’s previous actions.
However, through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Sentinel learned that the state’s Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel closed his case “due to a lack of a criminal predicate.” Miguel’s office did say that there was a “blurring of the lines” between Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District; however, Disney did not break any laws.
Miguel’s office sent the letter to DeSantis in June, informing him that Disney had not broken any laws. However, unlike other issues with The Walt Disney Company, DeSantis did not make the letter public until the FOI request was made.
So, despite claims to the contrary by DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature, Disney did not break any state laws when it controlled the Reedy Creek Improvement District or when it incorporated the District back when Walt Disney first came up with the idea of Disney World.