May 17, 2022
Staying quiet about who you are is not the same thing as changing who you are. Now that you have done the public the service of letting people know exactly who you are, the public do not want anything to do with you anymore, and staying quiet about it will not change that.
From now on, Disney will remain quiet about politics, report says
Disney plans to keep quiet about politics after publicly sparring with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over legislation related to LGBT content in education, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“This was shock and awe from the governor,” Republican Florida state Sen. Jeff Brandes, who voted against the Disney bill told the WSJ. “It just shows how big a challenge Disney faced in saying anything at all in the legislative process.”
Republican lawmakers reportedly told Adam Babington, Disney’s top government affairs official in Florida, that the company may be able to salvage their special district if they stepped out of the public fight, according to the WSJ. “Cool it off. Let’s not make a big deal about this,” said Babington, according to the WSJ.
“Waging culture wars against common-sense legislation – on parental rights and child safeguarding – is bad for business, particularly for a company that has built a successful brand over the decades by marketing wholesome entertainment to families,” DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“No corporation could possibly have swayed Governor DeSantis’ dedication to protecting kids and parents’ rights,” Pushaw said. “Disney’s vow to ‘repeal’ HB 1557 and overrule the majority of Floridians, as well as our legitimately elected government, has backfired as expected.”
Disney publicly opposed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. The company initially ignored the legislation, which critics and LGBT activists call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, but CEO Bob Chapek voiced opposition to the bill following a media pressure campaign highlighting Disney’s silence.