Disney Cancels $1 Billion Project in Florida, but Not for the Reason the Media Wants You to Believe

[Geee]

PJ Media

The article also quotes “anonymous sources” who say that the feud with DeSantis played into the decision to shutter the project — without details, of course. But further into the article, the Times demonstrates that one major factor in the decision was Chapek vs. Iger rather than DeSantis vs. Disney:

The Lake Nona campus, about 20 miles from Disney World near the Orlando International Airport, had been championed by Bob Chapek, who served as Disney’s chief executive from 2020 until he was fired last year. Mr. Iger, who came out of retirement to retake Disney’s reins, was much less enthusiastic about the project — even before the company became mired in its battle with Mr. DeSantis. As soon as he returned to Disney, Mr. Iger began telling lieutenants, for instance, that it made little sense to move Imagineering so far away from Disney’s movie studios. As he is fond of saying, “Creative teams need to be together.”

Mr. Iger has been systematically reversing Mr. Chapek’s decisions. In February, for instance, he announced that Disney would restructure its inner workings, ending a framework put in place by Mr. Chapek. In March, as part of wide-ranging layoffs, Mr. Iger shut down a 50-person metaverse project that Mr. Chapek had started [emphasis added].

 

As Erick Erickson wrote about the situation, “Disney was going to build a project in Florida. Its costs ballooned to over $1.3 billion at a time Disney is trying to cut over $5.5 billion. Iger didn’t like the project already, and the staff didn’t like the project either. But somehow, this is Ron DeSantis’s fault?”