RETRIBUTION

DeSantis Officially Takes Over Disney District in ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Spat

He will disband the district’s Disney-affiliated board and replace it with his own hand-picked group.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is going nuclear in his war on Mickey Mouse and Co. He signed a bill Monday seizing control of Disney’s self-governing district, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taking away the wide latitude it had previously been given to govern itself and set its own regulations. The governor will disband the district's current, Disney-affiliated board and replace it with his own hand-picked group of five executives. “Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day,” DeSantis said at a ceremony just outside the Happiest Place on Earth. The DeSantis-Disney feud began in 2021, when the company objected to his controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which banned classroom discussion of gender and sexual orientation before fourth grade. Having secured a supermajority in the statehouse in November, DeSantis is expected to continue ratcheting up his political battles as he prepares for a possible presidential run.