Gina Carano has broken her silence regarding the lawsuit she filed days ago against Disney and Lucasfilm after she was fired from her role on the Star Wars spinoff series The Mandalorian.
Her exit came after Carano made a number of controversial posts on social media including one particular photo that seemingly compared the backlash conservatives face in America to the atrocities suffered by the Jews during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Disney eventually released a statement saying Carano was not employed by the studio and there were no plans to bring her back for another appearance on The Mandalorian but added that “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Almost exactly three years later, Carano filed the lawsuit in California with backing from Twitter owner Elon Musk, who vowed to pay legal expenses for anybody facing repercussions from statements made on his social media network. Speaking about the lawsuit for the first time, Carano reveals why she believes she was targeted for termination by Disney.
“I think maybe because I’m a bit unassuming,” Carano told FOX News. “I’m easy to work with and I think sometimes if you asked anybody on that set, they would say I was the most non-controversial person but I think like we’ve seen all over America, a lot of us are getting sick and tired and so I think that I was a bit unassuming in standing up. I think that’s why I was targeted.”
In her lawsuit, Carano claimed that she was targeted by Disney while many of her co-stars made similar controversial statements on social media but faced no punishment whatsoever.
The ex-Strikeforce fighter says her firing was just a breaking point with cancel culture and she needed to fight back, which is what led to the lawsuit.
“What I’ve learned is that if this can happen to me, this can happen to anyone,” Carano said. “I’m easy to work with and I am passionate about what we do. I am always excited to be on set. I even worked with them as much as I possibly could to resolve any issues that they had but eventually you have a line and when that line gets crossed, you have to say enough. Enough is enough.
“If I would have caved and I would have done something that disrespected myself, I wouldn’t be doing any favors to the next generation, to my nieces, to your children. I felt like since I didn’t have any children, I was a person that could stand up and say something. The things that I said were so gentle. They weren’t aggressive. They were never with ill intent. They were never malicious and that’s how I know, because I was so conscious, that if this can happen to me, this can happen to you and if we just pass this along to the next generation, it’s just going to get worse and worse.”
Of course, Carano will face an uphill battle in court because California maintains “at will employment” laws, which means “without an employment contract, the employer or the employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause.”
Add to that, Disney has definitely taken action against other employees for controversial statements made on social media so Carano isn’t alone there.
Director James Gunn was famously fired from his film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after offensive messages he made years earlier on Twitter resurfaced. The split didn’t last forever with Disney eventually re-hiring Gunn to direct his film before he left the studio to take on a new role at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Roseanne Barr was effectively fired when her series Roseanne was cancelled by Disney after she unleashed a torrent of racist tweets back in 2018.
Still, Carano says she’s fighting the good fight with her lawsuit and she’s thankful that Musk is backing her up after he’s had his own war of words against Disney in recent years.
“I have people at these fan expos that I absolutely love and I have them coming up in tears, and mass amounts of people in tears, and just thank me for taking a stand,” Carano said. “Thank me for saying the things that I said and that has made it all worth it. No matter what happens, that has made it all worth it.
“I really applaud Elon Musk and X for championing me in this lawsuit and I appreciate all your love and support out there and I hope I make you proud.”
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