In a court filing last month in the Disney vs DeSantis lawsuit, Disney suggested mediation, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ legal team said that mediation would not be productive. The statements were made in a Joint Report issued by Disney and DeSantis’ legal counsel. The report gained media attention due to the suggested timelines from the competing counsel where DeSantis’ team pushed for a trial date after the 2024 Presidental Election had been completed. Disney suggested a July 15, 2024 trial start date.
As part of the report, Disney Parks said that “early mediation may be beneficial in this case” and suggested a mediation deadline of November 1, 2023. DeSantis’ team responded by stating that they “do not believe mediation would be productive in this case” at this time.
The counsel report seems to support the notion that Disney CEO Bob Iger has been very open to meeting with DeSantis to discuss the situation. Back in April, Iger told Time “…if the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that”. Iger continued, “You know, I’m one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldn’t do that”.
To the contrary, DeSantis has made Disney part of his stump speech for his Presidential ambitions, saying that he was “not backing down one inch” as he kicked off his campaign in Iowa in June.
The war of words between Iger, who called DeSantis’ retaliatory moves “anti-business” and “anti-Florida”, and DeSantis, who has repeatedly used Disney as a punching bag for his culture wars, has mostly been one-sided of late, with Disney sticking to court documents to plead its case.
The next significant milestone in the federal case is an August 9th deadline for Disney to respond to DeSantis’ recently filed Motion to Dismiss. A deadline for the court to rule on various issues brought forth in the Report was not immediately available.
Of course, a state-level case is currently moving through the Orange County court system now, with the most recent action being that of a response by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which is the Plaintiff in that case, to Disney’s Motion to Dismiss the state-level case and rely on the federal case.
Both cases target a Development Agreement between the CFTOD (formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District) and Disney World. DeSantis, the Florida Legislature, and the CFTOD Board of Supervisors seek to void the contract that Disney World wants to keep in place. Furthermore, in the federal case, Disney is arguing that DeSantis and his hand-selected Board of Supervisors are retaliating against Disney for Disney’s protected free speech in opposing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
Disney getting nervous? Wouldn’t have anything to do with all the money they have lost because their box office bombs? Or the encroachment of Universal into their pockets would it? This isn’t about the First Amendment and you know it. Kick sand, Disney
This appears to be a natural evolution of Disney’s willingness to sit down and work through the issues. DeSantis is attempting to delay
Patterns will likely continue through development
Disney’s willingness? Don’t make me laugh claiming they are trying to be reasonable. They started this. They when behind the back of the state and cut themselves an even more sweetheart backhanded deal while smiling and telling everyone they were cooperating. This reeks of Disney’s desperation. They are bleeding money. They had plenty of opportunities to stop this before and they chose to pursue this. Now they are backed into a corner with no way out. DeSantis needs to give them to lifeline here. You want to play games? Fine. Let’s play games. See how it turns out for you
The DeSantis team probably will borrow from the Trump legal playbook to delay through litigation. The law favors settlement where possible while DeSantis has political matters involving his anti woke brand to consider. He like Trump is running for President. Disney probably has no problem with delay because it’s concern is to outlast DeSantis who seems to be struggling to get traction against Trump. So it doesn’t hurt Disney to ask for diversion while DeSantis fights the ghosts of woke.
Getting creative with the timeline there. Desantis offered them 2 outs and Iger refused bkth (pairing down RCID powers and creating a new district like Uinversal). Otherwise there is nothing to talk about. Iger knows his contracts are null and void (thats 4 out of 5 disney chsrges) but doesn’t want that to be made public. He knows the media will repeat anything he says so he wants the conclusion to be behind closed doors.
Exactly. As usual DeSantis keeps wasting time & money on imaginary issues in order to not address the real ones & keep his constituents distracted.
It’s clear that you’re new to legal issues between parties, but attempting to go through mediation is pretty typical in all civil cases. It doesn’t imply concern on either side of losing, just looks to try and get to an outcome both sides are good with before the costly trial begins.
Nervous over a established Citizens United first amendment case? It’s one side willing to be open to discussion.
People really need to learn that RCID and Disney were never supposed to be the same thing.
BTW why didn’t RCID file a lawsuit?
Owner offered to talk but Desantis wants this to be his campaign platform. Picking out 1 of 200 special self governing districts and taking over the board just like excluding minor league baseball players from making $15hr instead of 7 or 8 b/c the baseball owners gave his campaign 1m. Desantis is not consistent w/ implementing his governing authority across the board for all Floridians, only for what benefits him. All politicians from both of armies are there to serve us not themselves this is a national problem!!!!!!!!
DeSantis is so arrogant. He punishes anyone who disagrees with him. Apparently he has fired many peoplehe felt did not support him. Why do people vote for him?
DeSanctimonious is a serious control freak. His need to impose his own so-called values is scary.
Businesses need to learn to keep their own political views to themselves or follow the same reprocussions as Bud Light is experiencing. The left are not the only ones who can “cancel” or protest against businesses against their views. Everyone has the right to speak their opinion, as well as the opposing side, but in business sense, you are going to lose half your customers either side of views you take, so they have to accept that consequence. Me personally, I hope Disney folds or moves and Universal takes over the tourism in Florida. Better park in my opinion.
You do realize that private citizens boycotting a company, is no where near the same as a paid government official retaliating on a business because of political views right? I’m pretty the the latter is illegal due to freedom of speech rights.
Businesses are also protected under the first amendment. Just like u & I have a right to not keep quiet & say what we believe in, SCOTUS has recognized them as individuals with the SAME right. Or are you now switching to being for cancel culture & removing constitutional rights?
Actually DeSantis bit off more than he can chew in this case. That Reedy Creek deal is why Florida has all this tourism. He sucks as governor yet he wants people to consider him for POTUS. Only a fool would do that.
Why @blogmickey do you consistently call it “the don’t say gay bill” when you absolutely know that is NOT what the bill is called or what the bill is. Stop spreading falsehoods. This is why this country is so divided. You don’t have to agree with the bill but please report truthfully or don’t report at all. Have a magical day.
As a share holder, I will support the Walt Disney Company. The GOP gave corporations the rights of an individual with Citizens United. This case will decide the survivability of Citizens United and every corporation around the country have all eyes on this case.
DeSantis for VP 2024.
nuf said.
Disney just move out of Florida!
🚫Banning Disney🐭, books📚 and light beer🍻 = The conservative cancel culture crusade⚔️
It’s disappointing to see that mediation was rejected in the Disney vs DeSantis lawsuit. In such cases, mediation can often lead to a mutually beneficial resolution. It’s concerning that Governor Ron DeSantis’ legal team believes mediation would be unproductive. The suggested timelines from both parties also raise eyebrows, especially DeSantis’ team pushing for a trial date after the 2024 Presidential Election. This could be seen as a delay tactic or an attempt to avoid potential political consequences. It’s crucial that the legal system prioritizes fair and timely resolution, rather than allowing political considerations to overshadow justice.