MIAMI – Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching his presidential run amid an ongoing feud with the Walt Disney Co.
The conflict started last year. Here is a timeline:
2022
March 8: Parental Rights in Education/”Don’t Say Gay” bill passes
- March 10: Disney pledges $5 million in support of LGBTQ rights
- March 28: DeSantis signs the bill into law
- April 19: DeSantis pushes to end Disney self-government
- April 22: DeSantis signs Disney government dissolution bill
2023
Jan. 12: “The corporate kingdom has come to an end,” DeSantis said. “You cannot have a corporation controlling its own government. That is not good governance.”
- Feb. 6: DeSantis expected to control Disney district governing board
- Feb. 8: DeSantis says Disney ‘will pay its debt’
- Feb. 9: DeSantis nears takeover of Disney government
- Feb. 27: DeSantis signs bill stripping Disney’s self-governing status
- March 29: DeSantis’ board says Disney stripped them of power
- April 3: Disney-DeSantis war of words heats up at annual meeting
- April 12: Gov. DeSantis surrogates escalate tit-for-tat versus Disney
- April 17: DeSantis seeks to control Disney with state oversight powers
- April 19: DeSantis appointees begin reshaping Disney World’s district
- April 26: Disney sues DeSantis, calling park takeover ‘retaliation
- May 12: DeSantis hands Disney Monorail inspections over to FDOT
- May 16: Disney asks judge to dismiss DeSantis-appointed board’s lawsuit
May 24
“Nobody probably has made Disney more money than me because they were open during COVID,” DeSantis said about the parks’ ability to stay open during the pandemic in Florida and not in California.