Why Disney Really Cancelled Its Latest Investment

In an op-ed in the Daily Caller, Gage Klipper calls out the New York Times for lying about the reason Disney scrapped its $1 billion plan to construct a new office complex in the Lake Nona region of Florida.

In reporting the news last week, the New York Times blamed Disney’s decision on Governor Ron DeSantis’ “scorched-earth attempt” to fight back against Disney’s left-wing gender politics.

In his piece, reporter Brooks Barnes bases his conclusion on two anonymous sources who claimed that DeSantis and the Florida legislature “figured prominently” in Disney’s decision to cancel the project.

And based on those two sources, the New York Times ran with the framing and every other media outlet quickly echoed it while the Trump campaign hopped on as well, hoping to use the canceled project as yet another way to frame DeSantis’ battle with Disney as a loss.

However, that wasn’t the case.

As Klipper notes in his column, Disney’s decision was just one part of its overall cost-cutting plan as the company is facing dismal revenues from its streaming service and plummeting stock prices.

Even Barnes admits in his article that Disney is looking to cut $5.5 billion in costs to pay down its debt, restore its dividend, and improve its profitability.

After Disney retired former CEO Bob Iger to replace outgoing CEO Bob Chapek, Iger committed to reversing many of Chapek’s projects, including the $1 billion campus in Florida.

As Klipper points out, why would Iger agree to move Disney employees from a California office complex to a new $1 billion complex in Florida if he is looking to cut costs? To Klipper, the decision to cancel the project was likely based on good business and not on the company’s battle with Governor DeSantis.

Klipper maintains that the New York Times, along with the rest of the corporate media, was willing to lie about Disney’s decision because they wanted to “sow an intense hatred” for Ron DeSantis to bolster Democrat voter turnout in case DeSantis is the Republican nominee.