More than two years after being fired from The Mandalorian, Gina Carano has decided to file a lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm with the help of an unlikely ally, Elon Musk. But aside from the complaint, what surprises many is the actress’ desire to be recast on the Disney+ series. So, as a response to this unexpected turn of events, Disney CEO Bob Iger finally responded to the case.
During The Walt Disney Company’s fourth-quarter earnings call with investors, Iger was asked about his thoughts on Carano’s lawsuit and the possibility of it opening the door for other charges. “None,” he simply told CNBC (via Game Spot) in an interview.
As we previously reported and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the former MMA fighter sues Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination in a lawsuit. In the complaint, she alleges she was fired for voicing right-wing opinions on social media. She also seeks a court order to force George Lucas’ production company to recast her as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian.
Carano gets the help of the X (formerly Twitter) owner and known business magnate Musk, who helps fund the suit through his social media company after posting a promise in August 2023 that he would help anyone who experienced employment discrimination due to their posts and what they liked. X’s head of business operations, Joe Benarroch, confirmed in a statement that they would give monetary assistance to the actress as a sign of the company’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,” he said.
Alternatively, Carano tweeted that her lawyers and X believed in her case and thanked Musk and X for allowing her to bring her case to light. She added that if she won, she wanted to continue her journey of “creating and participating in storytelling,” which she called her “utmost passion and everything I worked so hard for.” In a statement, she also revealed she was honored that X supported her case and called the platform a glimmer of hope for free speech.
She said:
Some of us have been unjustly singled out, harassed, persecuted, and had our livelihoods stripped away because we dared to encourage conversation, asked questions, and refused to go along with the mob. I am honored that my case has been chosen to be supported by the company that has been one of the last glimmers of hope for free speech in the world.
Why did Lucasfilm and Disney fire Gina Carano?
For starters, Lucasfilm and Disney fired Carano after the #FireGinaCarano hashtag started to trend on social media following a series of right-wing social media posts, like a tweet that compared the victimization of conservatives to Nazi Germany, during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also made several posts about questioning the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, claiming Jeffrey Epstein’s death wasn’t suicide, blaming Joe Biden and his administration for the deaths of people who had received vaccines, and using “boop/bop/beep” as her pronouns.
Lucasfilm then announced Carano was no longer part of the company. Hence, she would not reprise her role in The Mandalorian Season 3.
It said:
Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm, and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.
What is Gina Carano’s The Mandalorian lawsuit about?
In Carano’s complaint, she alleged that Disney and Lucasfilm harassed and defamed her for not conforming to their points of view on issues relating to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and disproven claims of election interference. The 41-year-old added she was fired due to her cultural and religious beliefs and claimed Disney turned a blind eye to her male co-stars, who allegedly made offensive remarks and posts directed toward Republicans.
She even used Pedro Pascal’s 2017 post as an example, wherein he compared former President Donald Trump to Hitler. The said post was already deleted.
The lawsuit also claimed that Disney asked Carano to release a statement admitting to mocking a group of people and issue an apology. But after she refused, she was shortly kicked off from The Mandalorian.
By the looks of it, Disney and Lucasfilm have no plans to back down to Carano’s lawsuit and demand. As it may take a little while before this issue finally settles, let’s see what these two companies’ next step will be following the actress’ move.
