Former Mandalorian star and MMA fighter Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination in a lawsuit. In the complaint, Carano alleges she was fired for voicing right-wing opinions on social media and seeks a court order that would force Lucasfilm to recast her as Cara Dune.
Twitter owner and CTO Elon Musk is helping fund the suit through the social media site as part of a promise he posted last August to help anyone who suffered employment discrimination because of what they posted or liked.
“A few months ago I received an email from a lawyer who had been hired by X to look into my story and many others,” Carano tweeted out. “Turns out after sending them as much information as I could gather these past few months, my now lawyers and X believe whole-heartedly in my case and are moving forward. I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thank you to Elon Musk & X for giving me an opportunity to bring my case to light.”
She added that should the case do well, she wants to continue where she left off and “continue my journey of creating and participating in story-telling, which is my utmost passion and everything I worked so hard for.”
During The Walt Disney Co.’s fourth-quarter earnings call with investors on Wednesday, CNBC asked Iger what his thoughts were on Musk backing the suit and the possibility of it opening the floodgates for similar suits.
Iger simply replied: “None.”
According to the complaint via The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Lucasfilm harassed and defamed Carano for refusing to “conform to their viewpoints on issues relating to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and disproven claims of election interference.” She states she was allegedly fired for her cultural and religious beliefs, and also argues that Disney turned a blind eye to her male co-stars, who allegedly made offensive remarks and social media posts directed toward Republicans. Carano used Pedro Pascal’s 2017 post comparing former President Donald Trump to Hitler as a prime example, but the post has long since been deleted.
Carano was fired in February 2021 following a barrage of right-wing social media posts, including one that compared the victimization of conservatives to Nazi Germany. “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 neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Cara Dune was quickly written off the show for Season 3, but not killed off. She’s just doing special forces space missions and can’t be recruited or enlisted for local missions. However, Hasbro pulled all of Cara Dune merchandise and Carano’s likeness from all action figures and sets. With Carano being an at-will employee, it will be rather difficult to receive any damages at all.
