Desantis fight with Disney ratchets up

ORLANDO, Fla. — The legal fights between Disney and Gov. Ron Desantis ratcheted up last week.

The Florida governor asked that the company’s First Amendment lawsuit against him be tossed from federal court, and Disney demanded emails, texts and other communications from the governor’s office in a separate state court lawsuit originally brought by Desantis appointees of Walt Disney World’s governing district.

The legal filings marked an escalation in the battle between the entertainment giant and Desantis, a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. The confrontation started last year when Disney publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, and Desantis retaliated by taking over the governing district that provides municipal services for the 25,000-acre Disney World theme park resort in Florida.

Disney has sued Desantis in federal court, claiming the governor violated its free speech rights by punishing it for expressing opposition to the law.

On Thursday, Desantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the governing district made up of Desantis appointees, asked a federal judge to throw out Disney’s First Amendment lawsuit, calling it meritless and “a last-ditch effort to reinstate its corporate kingdom.”

Meanwhile, the governing district now controlled by Desantis appointees has sued Disney in state court. The suit is an attempt to void prior agreements, made before the Desantis appointees took over, that shifted control over design and construction to Disney from the district and prohibited the district from using the likeness of Disney characters or other intellectual property without Disney’s permission.