The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida accuses DeSantis of orchestrating a campaign to punish Disney over its political views. The lawsuit comes just one week after DeSantis pledged to work with the state legislature to roll back Disney’s corporate control over its Florida theme park.
It represents the latest exchange in a long-running public feud between Florida’s conservative governor, widely seen as a likely contender for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, and the California-based theme park operator. The feud began when Disney came out against DeSantis-backed legislation DeSantis which prohibited teachers from discussing gender and sexual orientation in early school grades, a measure which critics derided as a homophobic and discriminatory “don’t say gay” bill. DeSantis signed it into law last year.