Disney has dropped all but the free speech claims in its political retaliation lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The lawsuit alleged that the governor acted to punish the media giant for its role in the documentary TV series “The Rachel Maddow Show” and other news programming critical of the Republican governor. The lawsuit alleges that the governor issued an executive order that imposed more stringent regulations on its theme parks in Florida.
The amended suit now claims that the governor’s executive order violates Disney’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against it for exercising its right to comment on issues of public concern, namely Governor DeSantis’ COVID-19 policies. The suit further alleges that the Governor’s actions are tantamount to government censorship of speech and are in retaliation for political speech.
Disney is seeking an injunction to prevent the governor from implementing the executive order as well as compensatory and punitive damages. The court has not yet decided if the case will proceed to trial.
