Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis on Thursday called for the Walt Disney Co. to abandon its politics and get back to the business of entertaining children.
In an opinion article published in The Florida Standard, Patronis suggested Disney’s lawsuit against the state for alleged retaliation was an unnecessary overreach.
“I love Disney, but their claim that the legislature and the governor are limiting their freedom of speech seems like a stretch. I don’t see anyone telling them to be quiet,” Patronis wrote.
The CFO recalled that he recently “pleaded” with Disney CEO Bob Iger to meet with Gov. Ron DeSantis to “come to a peaceful resolution on how they can keep growing in the Sunshine State.”
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“When have lawsuits ever helped a relationship?” he added.
Patronis then maintained that “words – and actions – have consequences.”
In this case, he noted that GOP lawmakers heard Disney when the company publicly proclaimed it wanted to unseat legislators who supported the Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits school districts and classroom teachers from implementing lesson plans rooted in sexual orientation or gender ideology in grades K-3.
“Wouldn’t you know,” Patronis continued, “when we took a closer look, Disney was benefiting from a special carve-out in laws that all other companies have to comply with – all the way down to being allowed to operate their own fire department (which my office works with).”
“They were even inspecting the safety of their own rides. Why shouldn’t we be able to inspect them just like any other theme park ride in the state?”
Disney, he argued, thus benefited from an “uneven playing field for other businesses in the state,” which prompted the Legislature “to remove the carve-outs and make a fair set of regulations across all businesses.”
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“The new legislation was more about creating predictability and fairness than any kind of ‘singled out’ punishment, as some pundits and media outlets have alleged. If anything, Disney was singled out before the legislation because they had their own unique set of exclusions,” Patroinis wrote.
“I love that Disney is a huge business in our state, and I want them to continue to succeed here,” he added.
Patronis also noted that he laughed when he saw the “desperate” tweet from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, trying to get Disney to relocate to her state.
“Wouldn’t a Disney move there basically double the population of the state?” said Patronis.
“If I were Bob Iger, I would spend less time on politics and more time focused on creating high-quality content that is family-friendly. That is what we all fell in love with!” Patronis added.
“Just like in Cinderella – the pumpkin is only a carriage until the clock strikes midnight, and then it is a pumpkin again. I don’t want Disney to lose any of its MAGIC – but the more they tangle up in state and national politics, the more their sparkle fades.”
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