Liberals on social media previously gloated over Disney’s legal entanglement with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — but now the company admitted its lawsuit is “null and void.”
Disney dropped its lawsuit over a special district backed by DeSantis that revoked the corporation’s self-governing status in the state Tuesday following a battle with the Florida governor. The lawsuit was waged after DeSantis signed legislation in Feb. 2023 replacing Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which was implemented to make sure Disney fairly paid the debts and taxes accumulated from its Florida theme park.
Tweets from April 2023 show liberals rejoicing over the lawsuit before they learned its fate. (RELATED: ‘This A*shole ..’: ‘Daily Show’ Host Jordan Klepper Praises Social Media Law Signed By Gov. DeSantis)
“How happy are you that Disney is actually suing Ron DeSantis?” one user wrote with a raised hand emoji soon after news broke of the lawsuit in April 2023.
How happy are you that Disney is actually suing Ron DeSantis? 🤚 pic.twitter.com/2IjHg66COV
— Jeras Ikehorn (@JerasIkehorn) April 26, 2023
“Disney fires the first shot and sues DeSantis for retaliation over the don’t say gay bill… DeSantis will lose this case because retaliation is very evident especially in light of a bill he signed favoring utility companies when he told Disney no corporations get special favors… he’s going to get crushed,” another person commented at the time.
Disney fires the first shot and sues DeSantis for retaliation over the dont day gay bill… DeSantis will lose this case because retaliation is very evident especially in light of a bill he signed favoring utility companies when he told Disney no corporations get special favors……
— Prez ❄️🌊🌈 (@PrezLives2022) April 26, 2023
“This one is going to hurt DeathSantis,” a third user wrote with a picture of Mickey Mouse dressed up for gay pride.
This one is going to hurt DeathSantis. pic.twitter.com/lJmmjITxie
— Cacti Kim🌻💙🌵🏜 🟧I can be a little prickly (@Grnibutrfly) April 27, 2023
MSNBC commentator Joy Reid was ecstatic when she learned of Disney’s lawsuit, mimicking Mickey Mouse’s voice after she said, “All I can picture is Mickey Mouse going, ‘Enough! Enough, Ron DeSantis!’”
.@JoyAnnReid on the Disney lawsuit accusing Ron DeSantis of engaging in a “targeted campaign of of government retaliation.” #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/et2tNx5yEx
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) April 28, 2023
Newsweek’s Josh Hammer weighed in on the battle between Disney and DeSantis at the time, predicting that the entertainment giant was “going to lose.” He wrote that Disney “paid the price” for supporting left-wing culture war positions through efforts of supporting schools “indoctrinating impressionable kindergarteners” with “gender ideology and queer theory.”
Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle told CNBC that he was “pleased” to dismiss the lawsuit Tuesday in a statement.
“We are pleased to put an end to all litigation pending in state court in Florida between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District,” Vahle told the outlet. “This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the State.”