Gina Carano, who played Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination from the role, with Elon Musk footing the legal bill as part of his commitment to free speech.
Carano, in a complaint filed Tuesday in California federal court, alleges she was fired for voicing right-wing opinions on social media and seeks a court order that would force Lucasfilm to recast her. Elon Musk, making good on a promise to foot the legal bill for users who claim they have been discriminated against due to their activity on his platform, is helping fund the suit through X.
In a statement, X’s head of business operations Joe Benarroch said, “As a sign of X Corp’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.”
Lucasfilm in 2021 announced that Carano would not be returning to the hit series after sharing a post in which she said, “most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Naxi 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?”
It was the latest in a long string of posts in which the former MMA fighter drew the ire of social media users for positions seen as right-wing on hot-button issues. Carano, who was dropped by UTA following the controversy, previously mocked government mandates to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and falsely suggested that voter fraud occurred during the 2020 presidential election.
In a statement clarifying the post on X, Carano on Tuesday said, “My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist.”
According to the complaint, Disney and Lucasfilm harassed and defamed Carano for refusing to conform with their viewpoints on issues relating to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns and disproven claims of election interference. While she was allegedly fired for her cultural and religious beliefs, Carano argues that the entertainment giant turned a blind eye to her male co-stars, who allegedly made offensive and denigrating posts directed toward Republicans. She points to Pedro Pascal’s 2017 post comparing former President Donald Trump to Hitler.
The suit says Disney required Carano, who was paid $25,000 per episode as a guest actor and later negotiated a one-time $5,000 bonus, to meet with representative of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination and demanded a public apology.
More on this at it happens.
