Gina Carano, the actress recognized for her role in the hit series ‘The Mandalorian,’ has initiated a lawsuit against both Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company, citing her controversial termination from the series. Carano asserts that her exit was a result of expressing views aligned with right-wing ideology on her personal social media accounts.
This legal action, filed this past Tuesday in a federal court in California, sees Carano receiving legal backing from ‘X,’ an entity formerly known as Twitter. The complaint details Carano’s claim of being wrongfully dismissed after her second season on the Disney+ series set within the Star Wars universe. The incident that led to her firing revolved around a social media post that drew a parallel between the treatment of conservatives in the United States and Jews during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
The lawsuit’s opening remarks set a dramatic tone: “A short time ago in a galaxy not so far away, Defendants made it clear that only one orthodoxy in thought, speech, or action was acceptable in their empire, and that those who dared to question or failed to fully comply would not be tolerated.” It equates her termination from the role of Cara Dune to the swift destruction of her character’s home planet Alderaan by the Death Star in the Star Wars narrative. Carano contends that she was targeted and terminated because she ‘dared voice her own opinions,’ which stood in opposition to “an online bully mob who demanded her compliance with their extreme progressive ideology.”
While Disney and Lucasfilm have yet to officially respond to the lawsuit, they had not returned a request for comment by the time of this report. Carano herself made her stance clear via social media, stating that after building her career from scratch over the past two decades, she was unfairly terminated from ‘The Mandalorian.’
Lucasfilm’s response to the incident at the time characterized Carano’s online postings as “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities,” deeming them “abhorrent and unacceptable.” Carano, through her lawsuit, seeks unspecified damages to be considered at trial and demands reassignment to her role in the series.
‘The Mandalorian,’ which stars Pedro Pascal in the titular role, has seen three successful seasons and has spurred production of a feature film. Further, interconnected series have also found a home on the Disney+ streaming platform.
Additionally, Carano alleges that Lucasfilm’s actions have damaged her prospects for future work through the issuance of “maliciously false” statements. The ex-mixed martial artist who became a fan-favorite as the fierce Cara Dune, deleted the contentious posts but faced significant backlash as they had already circulated widely online, igniting the #FireGinaCarano hashtag to trend.
Previous instances had seen Carano criticized for social media content that scoffed at mask mandates during the pandemic and echoed unfounded claims of fraud during the 2020 presidential election. She also came under fire for making light of personal gender pronouns, listing “beep/bop/boop” on her profile, which she later explained as a Star Wars reference and not an attempt to deride transgender individuals. Her lawsuit frames this act as a playful strategy to combat harassment, but she claims the issue led to further mistreatment by the company.
The lawsuit cites Carano’s participation in ‘Zoom’ meetings with leaders of LGBTQ+ groups at Lucasfilm’s request, which reportedly yielded “very positive” results. However, she contends that the company still insisted on a public apology and accused her of mocking a whole community, something she denies. The lawsuit characterizes this as part of a pattern of harassment she faced from the company.
Elon Musk, current owner of ‘X,’ previously Twitter, aided in funding Carano’s legal endeavor. Musk openly encouraged others who felt wronged by Disney to consider joining the lawsuit, a sentiment he shared through social media.
Carano’s legal challenge against Disney and Lucasfilm reflects a growing tension between individual expression and corporate brand management within the entertainment industry, particularly in the highly scrutinized setting of social media. As the case progresses, it could set precedents for how creative entities manage and respond to the extracurricular speech and actions of their talent.
