Gina Carano Disney Controversy

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Part of a series on The Mandalorian. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Gina Carano Disney Controversy or Gina Carano Disney Lawsuit refers to the ongoing legal battle and controversy between actress Gina Carano, who was fired by Disney from her role as Cara Dune on The Mandalorian in early 2021 for a series of inflammatory social media posts. In her posts, Carano used memes that denounce the use of face masks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, mocked trans people, spread conspiracies about the 2020 Election and compared being a Republican to being a jew in the Holocaust. Carano's opinions sparked a backlash by fans of her work, calling on Disney to remove her from the Mandalorian cast. Years after she was let go, she sued the company for her role back and monetary damages in early 2024.

Background

Gina Carano's social media posts were the subject of criticism throughout 2020. In September, many reacted negatively toward a parody made by Carano of Twitter users posting their pronouns in her Twitter bio. The Daily Dot ^[1]writes:

At the moment her Twitter name is “Gina Carano boop/bop/beep,” an obvious contrast to the way her Mandalorian co-star Pedro Pascal included his pronouns (“he/him”) on his own profile.

When questioned about why she chose to put “boop/bop/beep” on her profile when so many people interpret it as a transphobic dog whistle, Carano replied that she opposes bullying in any form. She also said that Pedro Pascal had explained the pronoun issue to her, but she had no intention of putting them on her own bio.

On September 5th, she tweeted,^[5] "Open up your businesses & churches. Put whatever regulations you want to because that is your right but open them up. You’re telling me Covid-19 knows the difference between a protest or praise & worship. I haven’t even been to church in over a decade but I sure would go now. The world IS open but no one is allowed to work. Working is a right you, as an American have. It gives us purpose, focus, pride and most importantly a way to support the ones we love. People are dropping like flies from depression and s---ide, overdoses, MURDER. Enough already." The initial tweet received more than 18,000 likes and 3,600 retweets (shown below).

Shortly after Carano made her anti-mask tweet, people began questioning some of Carano's other tweets, such as her happy birthday wishes to YouTuber Kinel Ryan, who frequently posts videos that mock Carano's Mandalorian co-star Pedro Pascal (example below, left). Others responded negatively to her mask tweet, tagging the Disney+ Twitter account and claiming that they plan on canceling their subscription (example below, center).

The hashtag #FireGinaCarano trended on Twitter, which first began spreading in September 2020 (example below).^[6]

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including The Daily Dot,^[1] Breitbart,^[7] The Mary Sue,^[8] Fox News^[9] and more.

In November, Carano seemingly began posting about the 2020 Presidential Election. On November 8th, 2020, she tweeted,^[2] "The more lying, cheating, demoralizing & hate I see.. the clearer it is for me to feel the Power of HOPE, TRUTH, RESPECT & LOVE. Red heart Let your spirit be filled with strength & peace. Breath." The tweet received more than 19,000 likes and 2,000 retweets in less than one month (shown below).

On November 13th, Carano tweeted^[3] that she had joined the social media site Parler, which has a membership primarily associated with conservative, far-right and alt-right users. The tweet received more than 21,000 likes and 3,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below).

The following day, she published a meme that reads,^[4] "Breaking news: Democratic government leaders now recommends we all wear blindfolds along with masks so we can't see what's really going on." The post received more than 39,000 likes and 8,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below).

Developments

Firing From Disney

In February 2021, Gina Carano shared a post comparing being a Republican in America to being a jew in the Holocaust (shown below). This appeared to be the final straw for Disney, as she was fired from her role as Cara Dune on The Mandalorian on February 10th, 2021.^[10]

In the immediate aftermath of the firing, Carano was cast in a Daily Wire movie called Terror on the Prairie.^[11] The film was a massive flop at the box office, grossing only $804 during its one-day U.S. theatrical release. It was also criticized by some right-wingers for being too woke. ^[11]

Lawsuit Against Disney

On February 7th, 2024, Gina Carano filed a lawsuit against Disney for her Mandalorian role back, as well as monetary damages. Her lawsuit was partially funded by Elon Musk and Twitter / X Corp executives.

Online, many were stunned to learn that the opening of Carano's lawsuit is a parody of a Star Wars opening text crawl (example shown below).