When the Walt Disney Company’s feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis first started, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley invited Disney to move Walt Disney World to the Palmetto State. It wasn’t so much a serious offer, but Haley was ribbing her opponent for the Republican nomination for president. As much as the rest of us did, Haley knew that ...
Read More »Author Archives: Rick Lye
DeSantis Disney District Administrator Tells Employees To Prepare for a Massive Tax Bill
Will the last person to leave the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District please turn out the lights? Since the new Board took over in February, more than 40 employees have left the District, taking more than 400 years of service to the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Employees who have left the District have reported that it has become “politicized” and ...
Read More »New Report Accuses Disney of Buying Influence With Reedy Creek Board
Back in August, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District paid conservative law professor Donald Kochan to write a report on the history of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and its relationship with Walt Disney World over its 56 years of existence. For his efforts, the Board paid Kochan $115,000. But right from the beginning, Kochan’s report aimed to find any ...
Read More »Twenty-Year-Old Britney Spears Interview Has the Internet Wanting to Cancel Diane Sawyer
It’s been nearly a decade since famed television anchor Diane Sawyer was an everyday regular on air. In 2015, Sawyer left ABC World News Tonight, ending a historic career that started in the late 1960s as a weather anchor in Louisville, Kentucky, and saw her become the first correspondent at 60 Minutes. But throughout her storied career, she made several enemies. ...
Read More »Haley Stole His Billionaire Donor, So DeSantis Blamed Disney
One of the key storylines from the 2024 Republican Primaries is the race for second place. Former president Donald Trump has first place locked up, at least in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. But the race to be the Trump alternative has taken over the headlines. The second-place finisher would presumably step in if ...
Read More »Dolly Parton’s Sister Hits Back Against Trolls With Expletive-Laced Defense of Music Icon
WARNING: The following article contains content and/or language that may not be suitable for younger readers. Viewer discretion is advised. Music legend and American treasure Dolly Parton had quite the Thanksgiving weekend. She kicked off Thanksgiving by playing the halftime show of the Dallas/Washington game in front of an estimated 41.44 million viewers. Parton played her hits Jolene and 9 to ...
Read More »Shut Out of Florida Politics, Disney Turns to California, But Anaheim Wants Them Out
Shortly after former Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, known by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, The Walt Disney Company decided to cut all campaign contributions to Florida politicians. Both of those decisions made Florida Governor Ron DeSantis respond to Disney by stripping it of the Reedy Creek Improvement District ...
Read More »DeSantis Has ‘Done Considerable Damage’ And Central Florida is Finally Fighting Back
The dispute between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has had several twists and turns, some of them have bordered on absurd, but what it has really revealed are some of the more significant issues in Central Florida. While the Florida governor stripped Disney World of its self-governing District, many stood idly by and watched, either out ...
Read More »Singer Tries To Get Dolly Parton Canceled, The Internet Wasn’t Having It
Since Betty White died in 2021, we have very few National Treasures left. You know, those people who are universally beloved and even the worst internet troll can find something at least decent to say about them. There is, of course, Tom Hanks. Americans see the Toy Story (1995) and two-time Academy Award winner as one of the few good ...
Read More »Complete And Total Reversal, Florida Bill Would End DeSantis Disney District
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been nine months since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stripped Walt Disney World of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replaced it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. In those nine months, it’s fair to say that the new District and its Board of DeSantis appointees have run into trouble overseeing a District ...
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