Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of organising a campaign of “government retaliation” and weaponizing his political power in actions that “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”

The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the board appointed by DeSantis to oversee Disney’s special taxing district sought to claw back its power from the entertainment giant, voting to invalidate an agreement struck between Disney and the previous board in February, just before that board’s dissolution.The new legal action sharply escalates the battle between the entertainment giant and the Republican politician.

The two sides have been fighting since the firm spoke out against a law banning discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools last year.

Officials are set to void a development deal for Disney’s Florida theme park.

Disney said its business had been threatened by DeSantis’ efforts to assert control over its operations.

“Disney finds itself in this regrettable position because it expressed a viewpoint the Governor and his allies did not like. Disney wishes that things could have been resolved a different way,” the lawsuit says. “But Disney also knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State’s retaliation – a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views. In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”

The yearlong fight has strained a formerly friendly relationship between Florida’s government and the state’s best-known employer and tourist attraction.

In a ludicrous statement, earlier this month DeSantis suggested the state could build a prison or competing theme park on what had for decades been Disney-controlled property.

“Disney regrets it has come to this,” the company’s parks division said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors –the board named by DeSantis and packed with his allies earlier this year – took over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special taxing district that for half a century gave Disney control over the land around its Central Florida theme parks.

However, before the new DeSantis-selected board was in place, Disney reached an agreement with the outgoing board that seemed to render the new board powerless to control Disney.

The DeSantis administration was unaware of the agreement for a month and vowed retribution after it became public.

In yesterday’s meeting counsel for the new board said the required public notice of its meetings had not been filed by the outgoing board, and said the agreement was not properly approved by two municipalities within the district, the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.

Disney subsequently filed it’s lawsuit.

Stay tuned.