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Disney Appears To Troll DeSantis With 'Disney Pride Nite' Announcement
The tweet came shortly after the politician's press conference blasting Disney.
Ron DeSantis is continuing waging his war against Disney, but the company fired back in a casual cute way on social media this week.
Florida’s governor has been doing whatever he can to reclaim oversight of the special district in which Disney World resides, which has historically allowed the company to be responsible for its own roads, fire services, and other infrastructure. The legislation overhauling this Reedy Creek District has been seen as a direct punitive response to Disney’s belated pushback against DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as he peddles his rightwing extremism to conservative voters.
Disney has cleverly managed to block certain aspects of the legislation, leaving DeSantis furious and scrambling to regain control of the narrative in recent weeks.
On Monday, that took the form of him blasting the theme park during a press conference, and suggesting he might co-op some of the unused land in the district to build a state prison next to Disney World — which would be yet another brazenly retaliatory action just because the company didn’t fall into line with Republican political goals.
\u201cBREAKING: As part of Ron Desantis' Reedy Creek feud with Disney World he literally just told the press that he is analyzing whether to built a State Prison next to Disney World.\n\nWho else finds it disgustingly ironic that the party who claims to care about children and crime,\u2026\u201d— Brian Krassenstein (@Brian Krassenstein) 1681758635
Although Disney did not respond to the threat directly, they did take take to Twitter shortly after the press conference to reiterate a prior announcement about the first ever Disney Pride Nite coming to the California theme park this summer.
\u201cThe first tweet by the company after DeSantis' press conference ended\u201d— Steven Lemongello (@Steven Lemongello) 1681761569
Considering this entire feud kicked off over LGBTQ+ rights, with DeSantis and conservatives angry over the idea that Disney might finally start publicly siding with progress rather than staying silent, many people immediately took the tweet as a pointed reaction to the governor’s threat.
\u201cWow. Ron DeSantis messed with Disney & it's not working. Right after DeSantis said he'll build a prison next to Disney today, they announced they'll be launching Pride Nite which will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community & allies. Disney shows us exactly how to respond to a bully.\u201d— Victor Shi (@Victor Shi) 1681771747
\u201cThis is all corporate crap, but I want to see them grind DeSantis's bones to make their bread\u201d— Gretchen Felker-Martin (@Gretchen Felker-Martin) 1681788117
\u201cThis is exactly how brands should fight back against wannabe dictators and bigots looking to terrorize companies into silence. Don't back down and goad your opponents into looking silly and ridiculous. Disney is winning with this strategy.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1681758770
\u201cRon DeSantis: We'll build a prison next to you\n\nDisney: WE'RE DOING PRIDE NITE, BITCHES \n\n\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\u201d— BrooklynDad_Defiant!\u262e\ufe0f (@BrooklynDad_Defiant!\u262e\ufe0f) 1681829820
Some are trying to claim it doesn’t count since this is taking place at the California theme park rather than Florida, but the message that Disney is stepping up its visible commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusivity as a whole company is clear. And the attempts from DeSantis and other conservatives to bully them back into silence is not working.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
