Gina Carano sues Disney over ‘Mandalorian’ firing with help from Elon Musk
'It has been difficult to move forward with the lies & labels stuck on me,' former Star Wars actress says
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Published Feb 06, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm, accusing the company of discrimination and wrongful termination, after she was fired from The Mandalorian for voicing right-wing opinion on social media.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Elon Musk is helping pay Carano’s legal costs after he pledged to help users of X (formerly Twitter) who claim they have been persecuted for their activity on his platform.
In a complaint filed in California federal court, Carano is seeking an order that would force Lucasfilm to recast her after she was canned in February 2021.
In a statement, X’s head of business operations, Joe Benarroch told the Hollywood Reporter, “As a sign of X Corp’s commitment to free speech, we’re proud to provide financial support for Gina Carano’s lawsuit, empowering her to seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment, or discrimination.”
On X, Carano thanked Musk “for giving me an opportunity to bring my case to light.”
“The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time,” Carano wrote. “My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt-right-wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me.”
Carano, who played Cara Dune on the Disney+ series, ran afoul of the Walt Disney Co.-owned movie studio after she shared social media posts that drew parallels between the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and Americans who hold conservative viewpoints.
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbours … even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours hate them simply for being Jews,” the 41-year-old shared on her Instagram story. “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” the company said in a statement after #FireGinaCarano became a trending topic on social media. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
The former MMA fighter addressed the fallout, saying, “I’ve got every single big publication saying she’s comparing conservatives and Republicans to this and that’s not really what I was doing … I have love for everyone. I’m not a hateful person.”
Carano, an avid supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, had previously come under fire for questioning mask-wearing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Twitter post from November, she also claimed there had been voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
“We need to clean up the election process so we are not left feeling the way we do today,” she wrote. “Put laws in place that protect us against voter fraud. Investigate every state. Film the counting. Flush out the fake votes. Require ID. Make Voter Fraud end in 2020. Fix the system.”
In her post to X, Carano said she used her “own words, not with aggression but with respect & the occasional comedy to keep the mood light in dark times.”
Carano said that Disney and Lucasfilm “turned a blind eye to her male co-stars, who allegedly made offensive and denigrating posts directed towards Republicans.” She cites a 2017 social media post from Pedro Pascal in which he compared former president Donald Trump to Hitler.
“Why then were my male co-stars permitted to speak without harassment & re-education courses or termination, but I was not afforded the same right to exercise my freedom of speech?” she asked.
For his part, Musk invited others to the cause, sharing Carano’s message and writing, “Please let us know if you would like to join the lawsuit against Disney.”
Carano’s suit goes on to allege studio bosses demanded a public apology and tried to force Carano into meeting with a representative of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination.
“Defendants went so far as to try and convince Carano’s publicist to force Carano to issue a statement admitting to mocking or insulting an entire group of people, which Carano had never done,” the complaint added.
Carano ended her social media message Tuesday by telling fans she wants to “continue my journey of creating & participating in storytelling.
“It has been difficult to move forward with the lies & labels stuck on me, backed & encouraged by the most powerful entertainment company in the world,” she wrote. “I am grateful someone has come to my defence in such a powerful way & look forward to clearing my name.”
mdaniell@postmedia.com
X: @markhdaniell
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The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing certain opinions on hot-button issues.
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Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination in a lawsuit.
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