With Musk’s help, Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm over her firing from The Mandalorian TV series.
The MMA fighter-turned-actor, who played Cara Dune in the Star Wars franchise, has been accused of “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” on social media, with his posts being called “abhorrent and unacceptable” accept”.
Carano used his online presence to share a post suggesting that being a Republican was like being a Jew in Nazi Germany, mocking the wearing of masks during the worst days of Covid-19 and spreading conspiracies about the 2020 election Argument.
She was removed from the show in 2021 after a lengthy fan campaign and was later dumped by her agency, UTA. “The truth is, everything I posted and every post I liked was hounded because I didn’t fit the acceptable narrative at the time,” she wrote on Twitter/X.
She claimed that she used words “not with offense, but with respect, and occasionally used comedy to maintain a light mood in dark times.”
In a new complaint filed this week, Carano claims she was “harassed and defamed” for holding right-wing views and refusing to abide by those of Disney and Lucasfilm. She also claimed that her male co-star could make derogatory remarks about Republicans with impunity. Carano is claiming wrongful termination and gender discrimination, seeking $75,000 in damages and a court order reinstating her role on the hit series.
The lawsuit details that Carano was asked by Disney to meet with representatives from the LGBTQ+ group Glaad because of online behavior that was deemed anti-trans, but she declined. She was then asked to meet with a group of LGBTQ+ Disney employees, but she again refused and was fired shortly after.
The lawsuit alleges “bullying, discrimination and retaliation” by Disney and Lucasfilm.
In 2023, Musk pledged to help anyone facing employment discrimination for posting content on the platform. Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations, said in a statement: “As a sign of X Corp’s commitment to free speech, we are proud to provide financial support for Gina Carano’s lawsuit so that she can seek to vindicate her right to free speech. X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment or discrimination.”
Carano wrote that she expressed her “deepest gratitude” to Musk for assisting her in the case. “I am grateful that someone defended me in such a forceful manner and look forward to clearing my name,” she added.
Since being fired, Carano has teamed up with Ben Shapiro’s right-wing website The Daily Wire to produce a prairie-western horror film. She also stars alongside Laurence Fox in “Hunter, My Son,” a Breitbart TV series about Hunter Biden. She called Fox “one of my favorite human beings.” Last month, Fox lost a defamation lawsuit after calling two gay men pedophiles on “X.”
Disney and Lucasfilm have yet to make any statements.
