On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared success in his campaign against Disney, declaring “there’s a new sheriff in town” and promising that the media behemoth will “pay its bill.”
On Wednesday, House Bill 9B, which would give the governor of Florida the authority to rename the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and appoint its five members, passed its first committee.
“Disney’s going to pay its debt,” said DeSantis. Disney has been on DeSantis’s radar for six to nine months, and DeSantis stated that Disney would not have its own government. Disney will also pay their fair share of taxes and honor their debts, he added. According to DeSantis, that is precisely what this proposed piece of legislation will do.
There were reports that Disney had been paying fewer taxes than Floridians, and the new legislation will end that. According to DeSantis, this was ridiculous. Now that issue has been resolved, Disney will be paying their fair share of the taxes and will have to honor their debts. DeSantis declared that the state of Florida would now be in charge of this and that a” new sheriff has arrived in town.”
According to BizPac Review, the feud between DeSantis and Disney started because the Magic Kingdom is against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education statute, misleadingly nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The governor has been outspoken in his opposition to woke philosophy, and Disney’s stubborn adherence to it has prompted him to reconsider a 1967 state decision that made it possible for Reedy Creek at Walt Disney World in Orlando to function as a self-governing tax district.
“Florida is dissolving the Corporate Kingdom” and beginning a new age of accountability and openness, Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis’ deputy press secretary, said earlier this week. Taking these measures guarantees a responsible state-run district rather than a corporate-run monarchy.
Redfern announced that “the Corporate Kingdom is over” in a tweet.
He elaborated that the new law imposes a state-controlled board with members nominated by the governor on Disney and its property. Redfern added that the original agreement with Disney was insane and that Disney could use eminent domain to acquire property outside of its district.
Many believe the Reedy Creek proposal falls short of what’s needed. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the new improvement district will still have the same financial benefits it had previously, allowing it to issue tax-exempt bonds and save the corporation millions of dollars, despite getting a new name.
On Wednesday, state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said Disney retains the same perks they previously did. Disney can do whatever it wants, but if it deviates from the course, it will be penalized. She described Disney’s new structure by comparing it to a low-security prison.
Meanwhile, after resuming his position as Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger has revealed plans to lay off 7,000 workers and reorganize operations at the Happiest Place on Earth to hold business executives “accountable” for the quality of the material they create.
At Disney’s earnings conference, Iger said their new structure is intended to restore greater control to their creative leaders and hold them accountable for how their material succeeds commercially. Iger said the old setup destroyed that connection, and they must put it back together. According to Iger, the creative teams decide what they make, how they distribute it, how they monetize it, and how they promote it going forward.
The 7,000 soon-to-be-former employees account for slightly more than 3 percent of the company’s worldwide workforce, with the entertainment and ESPN businesses taking the biggest hits.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy stated that the company aims to save $5.5 billion. Of this total, $3 billion is expected to come from savings on future content, while the remaining $2.5 billion will come from cutting expenses in marketing, personnel, and technology.
The decision came after Disney+ was threatened with a boycott over an episode of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” in which the characters advocated for reparations because the country was based on slavery, which means slaves created this country.
End Wokeness, a widely followed Twitter account, claims the cartoon is “Blatant anti-white propaganda.”
For more news: