Actress and former professional mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano has filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm over allegations that she was wrongfully fired from the 2021 series “The Mandalorian.”
In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in California, Carano claims she was fired from her role as rebel Cara Dune for expressing right-wing views on social media. She is seeking a court order requiring Lucasfilm to reinstate her or compensate her at least $75,000. Carano claims in the lawsuit that she suffered emotional damage and lost millions of dollars in income.
“A short time ago, in a galaxy not too far away, the Defendants made clear that only one doctrine of thought, speech, or deed was acceptable in their empire, and that those who dared to question or failed to fully comply would not be tolerated,” it says. The suit. “And so it was with Carano.”
X helps cover the costs of the lawsuit, Carano Certain Tuesday in a post on the social media platform.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to @ElonMusk and @X for giving me the opportunity to highlight my case,” she wrote.
In the post, Carano denied that her previous posts were seen as controversial, and said her former employers targeted her as part of a “smear campaign” aimed at “making an example of me.”
“The truth is that I was hounded from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the accepted narrative of the time,” Carano wrote. “My words have been constantly twisted to demonize and dehumanize me as a right-wing extremist.”
After a short but successful career in mixed martial arts, Carano was a rising star in television and movies when controversy began to swirl around him. In February 2021, she posted on Instagram likening modern political divisions to the Holocaust. It is then Posted a job Which seemed to mock people who wore masks during the pandemic. The Instagram post was directed at the app's “Story” function, which disappears after 24 hours.
Carano's social media posts have previously drawn some scrutiny. In 2020, she appeared to suggest there was voter fraud during the presidential election In a post to X (then Twitter). In another post around that time, she appeared to mock trans people by putting “beep/bop/boop” in her X-shaped profile after fans asked her to display her pronouns in her account bio.
Carano's lawyer, Gene Scherr, said in a statement that Disney “bullied Ms. Carano, tried to force her to conform to their views on cultural and political issues, and when that bullying failed, they fired her.”
Representatives for Musk, Disney and Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Carano and her manager did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the time of her firing, Lucasfilm issued a statement denouncing her comments.
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to work in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement. “However, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Carano also claims that Disney and Lucasfilm discriminated against her. The lawsuit cites social media posts by the late actor Carl Weathers, saying male colleagues are not held to similar standards.
“Even though 'power is female,' the defendants chose to target a woman while looking the other way when it came to men. While Carano was fired, the defendants took no action against male actors who took equal or more active and controversial positions on the media.” Social media, the lawsuit claims.
“As a testament to Expression on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment or discrimination.
The lawsuit comes less than a year after Musk pledged on X that he would pay for any legal case in which someone is terminated for posting or liking something on his platform.
“If you are treated unfairly by your employer because of posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill. No limits,” he wrote. “Please let us know.” He later added: “And we won’t just file a lawsuit; “Very loud and we will go after corporate boards as well.”
On Tuesday, Musk shared Carano's post with X announcing the lawsuit and appeared to be looking for other plaintiffs to join the case.
“Please let us know if you would like to join the lawsuit against Disney.” books.
“The Mandalorian,” starring Pedro Pascal, is available on Disney+. The show began its third season last year.
