DeSantis Reveals Former Disney CEO Called Him Over ‘Pressure’ About ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill, Per Report

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) claimed in a new memoir that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek called him about “pressure” he was getting to condemn what critics have dismissed as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Florida’s education law was incorrectly and popularly dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as it targets what is described as explicit material for children in public schools. Critics, however, say DeSantis’ battle against “woke” in schools is a way to target LGBTQ and Black-history-related materials. The bill prohibits teachers from discussing sexuality and gender with students in the third grade or below.

DeSantis wrote about an exchange with Chapek over the bill in his memoir The Courage to be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for American Revival, which is being released this week. Fox News posted an exclusive excerpt from the book.

“As the controversy over the Parental Rights in Education bill was coming to a head, Chapek called me. He did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill,” DeSantis recalled about spring 2022.

“When I sign it, you will get another 48 hours of outrage, mostly online,'” DeSantis claimed he said. “Then there will be some new outrage that the woke mob will focus on, and people will forget about this issue, especially considering the outrage is directed at a political-media narrative, not the actual text of the legislation itself.”

Chapek reportedly claimed the pressure he was receiving to condemn the new bill was different than pressure he’d received before about other causes.

“We get pressured all the time, but this time is different. I haven’t seen anything like this before,” he said.

In March 2022, Chapek did reveal he spoke to DeSantis on the matter.

“I called Gov. DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary, and transgender kids and families,” he said at the time.

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