DeSantis reacts to Disney suit with full-throated defense of crackdown

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2023

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close video DeSantis says Disney lawsuit has no merit

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reacted to Disney’s lawsuit against him, saying it’s time for the company to “live by the same rules as everybody else.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday dismissed Disney's lawsuit against him, calling it politically motivated and saying it is not "pro-business" to let one company get favorable treatment from the government.

Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging the Republican orchestrated a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" against the company that violates Disney's free speech rights. Disney is challenging the legality of a new board appointed by DeSantis to govern the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District – where the Walt Disney World resort is located.

"I don't think the suit has merit," the governor said in Jerusalem.

The legal complaint is an escalation of a fight between DeSantis and Disney that began last year when the House of Mouse campaigned to overturn Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, which detractors misleadingly labeled the "Don't Say Gay" bill. DeSantis, widely expected to run for president in 2024, responded by pushing the Florida legislature to strip Disney's self-governing authority and create a new board, full of his appointees, which now has control over the theme park's development. Ticker Security Last Change Change % DIS THE WALT DISNEY CO. 98.11 +1.51 +1.56%

"They’re upset because they’re having to live by the same rules as everybody else. They don’t want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to be able to control things without proper oversight," DeSantis said. "The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida."

DISNEY SUES FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS OVER LOSS OF SPECIAL DISTRICT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis talks to the media at a conference titled “Celebrate the Faces of Israel” at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance, Thursday, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo / AP Newsroom)

DeSantis was speaking on the third leg of an international trip meant to burnish his foreign policy credentials ahead of a potential campaign for the Republican presidential nomination as a key rival to former President Donald Trump.

The governor has leaned in to his spat with Disney, one of Florida's largest employers and a major source of tourism to the Sunshine State, even as business leaders and other GOP 2024 hopefuls have bashed his actions as non-conservative and anti-business.

DISNEY'S ‘BACK ROOM DEAL’ TO STOP DESANTIS RIPPED BY LEGAL EXPERT: 'WORTHY OF SCROOGE MCDUCK

General views of the Walt Disney World Resort, celebrating its 50th anniversary on April 03, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Getty Images)

"Hey @Disney, my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida," tweeted Republican presidential candidate former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday. "SC's not woke, but we're not sanctimonious about it either."

Her dig at DeSantis parroted former President Donald Trump, who is also running for president and has taken to calling DeSantis "Ron DeSanctimonious" or "DeSanctus." Earlier this month, Trump called DeSantis' fight with Disney a "political STUNT."

DISNEYLAND UNVEILS FIRST-EVER LGBT ‘PRIDE NITE’ AMID BATTLE WITH DESANTIS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he arrives to a conference titled “Celebrate the Faces of Israel” at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance, Thursday, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool / AP Newsroom)

But the Florida governor has brushed off these criticisms.

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"The idea that somehow being pro-business means giving companies their own governments, that is not what a free market is all about, last I checked," DeSantis said Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UK

Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

Published

59 mins ago

April 27, 2025

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Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.

The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.

A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.

The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.

They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.

A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.

Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.

There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.

More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.

“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”

The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.

The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.

Business

Chair candidates battle to check in at Premier Inn-owner Whitbread

Published

2 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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Chair candidates battle to check in at Premier Inn-owner Whitbread

Two chairs of FTSE-100 companies are vying to succeed Adam Crozier at the top of Whitbread, the London-listed group behind the Premier Inn hotel chain.

Sky News has learnt that Christine Hodgson, who chairs water company Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the leading contenders for the Whitbread job.

Mr Crozier, who has chaired the leisure group since 2018, is expected to step down later this year.

The search, which has been taking place for several months, is expected to conclude in the coming weeks, according to one City source.

Ms Hodgson has some experience of the leisure industry, having served on the board of Ladbrokes Coral Group until 2017, while Mr Martin was a senior executive at the contract caterer Compass Group and finance chief at the travel agent First Choice Holidays.

Under Mr Crozier’s stewardship, Whitbread has been radically reshaped, selling its Costa Coffee subsidiary to The Coca-Cola Company in 2019 for nearly £4bn.

The company has also seen off an activist campaign spearheaded by Elliott Advisers, while Mr Crozier orchestrated the appointment of Dominic Paul, its chief executive, following Alison Brittain’s retirement.

It said last year that it sees potential to grow the network from 86,000 UK bedrooms to 125,000 over the next decade or so.

Mr Crozier is one of Britain’s most seasoned boardroom figures, and now chairs BT Group and Kantar, the market research and data business backed by Bain Capital and WPP Group.

He previously ran the Football Association, ITV and – in between – Royal Mail Group.

On Friday, shares in Whitbread closed at £25.41, giving the company a market capitalisation of about £4.5bn.

Whitbread declined to comment this weekend.

Politics

Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back

Published

3 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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Bitcoin treasury firms driving 0T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back

Investment firms with Bitcoin-focused treasuries are front-running global Bitcoin adoption, which may see the world’s first cryptocurrency soar to a $200 trillion market capitalization in the coming decade.

Institutions and governments worldwide are starting to recognize the unique monetary properties of Bitcoin (BTC), according to Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream and the inventor of Hashcash.

“$MSTR and other treasury companies are an arbitrage of the dislocation between the bitcoin future and todays fiat world,” Back wrote in an April 26 X post.

“A sustainable and scalable $100-$200 trillion trade front-running hyperbitcoinization. scalable enough for most big listed companies to move to btc treasury,” he added.

Hyperbitcoinization refers to the theoretical future where Bitcoin soars to become the largest global currency, replacing fiat money due to its inflationary economics and growing distrust in the legacy financial system.

Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back — *Source:* *Adam Back*

Bitcoin’s price outpacing fiat money inflation remains the main driver of global hyperbitcoinization, Back said, adding:

“Some people think treasury strategy is a temporary glitch. i’m saying no it’s a logical and sustainable arbitrage. but not for ever, the driver is bitcoin price going up over 4 year periods faster than interest and inflation.”

Back’s comments come nearly two months after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a national Bitcoin reserve from BTC forfeited in government criminal cases.

Global firms continue Bitcoin accumulation

Continued Bitcoin investments from the likes of Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, may inspire more global firms to follow suit.

Strategy’s approach is proving to be lucrative, with the firm’s Bitcoin treasury generating over $5.1 billion worth of profit since the beginning of 2025, according to Strategy’s co-founder, Michael Saylor.

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet, also known as “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” adopted a similar strategy, since surpassing 5,000 BTC in total holdings on April 24, Cointelegraph reported.

As Asia’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, Metaplanet plans to acquire 21,000 BTC by 2026.

US financial institutions may also have more confidence in adopting Bitcoin after the US Federal Reserve withdrew its 2022 guidance discouraging banks from engaging with cryptocurrency. “Banks are now free to begin supporting Bitcoin,” Saylor said in response to the guidance withdrawal.

“Banks will now be supervised through normal processes, signaling a more open regulatory environment for digital asset integration,” Nexo dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev told Cointelegraph.