Gina Carano Takes Legal Action Against Disney for ‘Mandalorian’ Dismissal with Support from Elon Musk: What You Need to Know
In light of her dismissal from “The Mandalorian,” Gina Carano has filed a lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination, ramping up tensions over corporate America’s influence on Hollywood pulled into the battlegrounds of the culture war.
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Musk’s Contribution: Financing the Fight for Free Speech
Carano says in an action filed on Tuesday in federal court in Hollywood the she was let go for sharing her conservative opinions on social media. She is requesting a hired again order from Lucasfilm. Elon Musk has contributed to the lawsuit through X, keeping his pledge to pay legal fees for those who say they were the target of discrimination due to their actions performed on his platform.
So, basically, Carano’s taking a legal swing at Disney and Lucasfilm for showing her the door due to her outspoken views, and Musk is lending a financial hand to support the case. In a statement, Xavier’s Chief of Business Operations, Jo Benarroch, said, “As a commitment to the freedom of expression at X Corp, we take pride in providing financial support for Gina Carano’s lawsuit, affirming her rights to free speech on X without intimidation, harassment, or discrimination.”
Lucasfilm had announced in 2021 that Carano wouldn’t return to the hit series after she shared a post in which she said, “Today most people don’t realize that they can easily surround thousands of Jews, where Naxalite soldiers can reach, the government first forced their own neighbors to hate them just because they were Jews. How is hating someone because of their political views any different?”
This was the latest in a series of posts where the former MMA fighter vented frustrations of social media users being labeled as conservatives on hot-button issues. Carano, who was previously removed by YouTube after controversy, had earlier mocked government mandates on wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggested voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
In a statement clarifying her post on X, Carano said on Tuesday, “My words have been twisted and manipulated to portray me as a monstrous and inhuman figure, consistently presented as an extreme right-wing extremist.”
Allegations of Defamation: Gina Carano Legal Claims Against Disney and Lucasfilm
According to the complaint, Carano was troubled and defamed by Disney and Lucasfilm for refusing to agree with their perspective on issues related to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and election interference, among others. While she was allegedly ousted for her purported cultural and religious beliefs, Carano argues that the entertainment giant turned a blind eye to her male co-stars who allegedly made offensive and disrespectful posts towards Republicans.
She brought up a 2017 post by Pedro Pascal in which he connects Nazism to the actions of the dead President Donald Trump.In a statement clarifying her post on X, Carano said on Tuesday, “My words have been twisted and manipulated to portray me as a monstrous and inhuman figure, consistently presented as an extreme right-wing extremist.”
According to the complaint, Carano was troubled and defamed by Disney and Lucasfilm for refusing to agree with their perspective on issues related to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and election interference, among others. While she was allegedly ousted for her purported cultural and religious beliefs, Carano argues that the entertainment giant turned a blind eye to her male co-stars who allegedly made offensive and disrespectful posts towards Republicans.
Pedro Pascal’s 2017 piece, which draws parallels among Hitler and Donald Trump, the prior US president, is referred to by the writer’s name. After her denial, Carano was asked to meet with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and 45 employees who identify as LGBTQ+, as per the lawsuit’s claims. She declined, and shortly after, she was removed from several titles in the Star Wars universe, including “The Mandalorian” and “Rangers of the New Republic.”
Carano also accused Disney of participating in the “post-termination smear campaign,” citing the sudden removal of an episode she appeared in on “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” where she was allegedly removed from the show’s lineup in an attempt to “defame” her. However, the episode eventually aired without any mention or acknowledgment of her name or presence in the promotional material.In the lawsuit, Carano has been portrayed by Disney as wrongfully terminated and wrongly characterized as a customer by her attorneys as an encouragement for UTAE.
Carano claims discrimination based on gender and unfair dismissal. She seeks punishment in lieu of a court order for Lucasfilm to rehire her and repay her .
Gina Carano Claims of Inequality and Harassment at Work
In a statement, she said, “Some of us have been wrongly separated, harassed, persecuted, and our livelihoods taken away because we dared to encourage dialogue, ask questions, and refuse to go along with the crowd.”
Employees who work voluntarily, most of whom are private-sector employees, often face difficulty in receiving compensation for dismissal due to problematic online posts that violate aggressive workplace policies. Unlike public-sector employees, such employees are not protected from discipline under the First Amendment.
By financing the lawsuit against X, Carano said, “I feel honored that my case has been chosen to be supported by a company that has remained one of the last glimpses of hope for free speech in the world.”
Last year, Musk promised to financially support legal action against X for users who claim to have faced discrimination from their employers due to their activities on the platform. This proposal came with “no limit” on costs, Musk said, adding that he would “also follow the board of directors of the companies.”
Amidst a tough stance on issues such as gender politics and race within the Republican Party, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made “woke corporations accountable” one of the main pillars of his failed presidential campaign. He purposely picked out the district managing development surrounding Disney World last year in an attempt to get revenge on the firm for its opposition to laws limiting school discussions about gender and sexuality.