Business

Courthouse News reports: A Florida judge has recused himself from the federal case brought by Disney against Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and a state oversight board. In court documents filed on Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker denied DeSantis’ motion to disqualify, finding that his prior comments in another state retaliation case does not show he is predisposed to …

Religion News Service reports: A group of former followers of Dave Ramsey has sued the Christian finance guru and radio host, along with his company and a marketing firm, for endorsing a failed timeshare exit company that allegedly defrauded customers out of millions. Seventeen former Ramsey listeners filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington alleging …

Reuters reports: Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October. Irwin, who joined Twitter in June 2022, took over as head of the trust and safety team in November …

Bloomberg News reports: A top Walmart Inc. executive said the retailer remains committed to its Pride Month offerings, even after competitor Target Corp. became embroiled in a controversy over similar products. “We have merchandise that we sell all year that supports different groups,” Walmart Chief Merchandising Officer Latriece Watkins told reporters Wednesday. “In this particular case, we haven’t changed anything …

The Hill reports: An overwhelming majority of Americans who do not identify as LGBTQ believe companies should publicly support the community, according to a survey from the LGBTQ media watchdog GLAAD. In a report released Thursday, the official start of LGBTQ Pride Month, roughly 70 percent of more than 2,500 adult respondents who are not LGBTQ said companies should support …

Elon Musk has haters on all sides these days: Conservatives are piling on Elon Musk after Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing revealed that Musk’s Twitter had threatened to “throttle” a documentary over instances of misgendering in it. According to Boreing, Twitter had agreed to platform and even promote Matt Walsh’s What Is a Woman? before discovering the controversial moments in …

The Hill reports: Twitter has been overwhelmingly not removing hate speech posted on the platform from verified Twitter Blue accounts, according to a report from a nonprofit that opposes the spread of hate and disinformation online. The Center for Countering Digital Hate said on Thursday that its researchers collected tweets promoting hatred from 100 Twitter Blue accounts and reported them …

Yahoo Finance reports: Twitter is now worth just one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social-media platform, according to Fidelity, which recently marked down the value of its equity stake in the company. Musk has acknowledged he overpaid for Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion, including $33.5 billion in equity. More recently, he said Twitter is worth less …

The Birmingham News reports: Is Chick-fil-A going woke? That’s the reaction on social media now that the popular restaurant has reports on its web site that Erick McReynolds is the VP of diversity, equity and inclusion. “Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the …

American Songwriter reports: As Queen marks the 50th anniversary of their eponymous debut, the band is reportedly in talks to sell their catalog of music for an estimated $1.1 billion. The band is reportedly in the early stages, which could include everything from their 1973 self-titled debut through their 1995 album, Made in Heaven— Queen’s 15th and final album following …

Bloomberg News reports: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should apologize for the UK’s treatment of gay and trans veterans, according to a government-commissioned review that details a “culture of homophobia” that pervaded the British military for decades. The study — slated for publication in the first half of June and seen by Bloomberg — details accounts of electric-shock conversion therapy, intrusive …

Ad Age reports: The North Face does not plan to bow to boycott pressure it is facing in the wake of an LGBTQ+ campaign. After the outdoors brand released its new Pride month collection this week, and included a video featuring drag queen Pattie Gonia, some consumers complained on social media. But The North Face responded with a message of …

Just in via press release: Recent pushback against businesses such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, blatantly organized by extremist groups, serves as a wake up call for all businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve seen this extremist playbook of attacks before. Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible. These …

The Associated Press reports: Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers. “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” Target said …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is fighting to get a new judge on the bench for a case stemming from Disney’s federal lawsuit against the Governor. DeSantis filed a motion to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, arguing “the Court’s impartiality in this matter might reasonably be questioned.” Walker, whose office declined to comment Friday, has previously ruled …

The Associated Press reports: In an interview this week, Twitter owner Elon Musk said users making false claims of stolen elections “will be corrected” on the platform. Prompted by a CNBC reporter for extra assurance that would happen, Musk responded, “Oh yeah, 100%.” Yet many such claims have thrived on Twitter in the week since former President Donald Trump spent …

The Hill reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday there is “zero” chance he will back down from his dispute with Disney, even as some fellow Republicans urge caution. “[Disney] can do whatever they want,” DeSantis said during a stop at a diner in Manchester, N.H. “I know people try to chirp and say this or that, but the …

The Hill reports: Lawmakers say the future of AM radio is in jeopardy after companies including Ford and Tesla announced some of their new models will no longer include AM receivers. “If Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can certainly afford to include AM radio in his Teslas,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) …

“Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition. Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures.” – DeSantis spox Jeremy …

The New York Times reports: In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment …