If you were on social media in early February and saw #FireGinaCarano trending, then here's a follow-up for you. Gina Carano, who plays Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, has indeed... been fired.
On February 2, the actress shared multiple insensitive posts via her Instagram stories. One post compared America's political divide to Nazi Germany; another story showed a picture of people in cloth masks, with the caption, "Meanwhile in California." Carano removed both posts by the following afternoon. But considering this is far from Carano's first brush with spreading insensitive content through her social media accounts—we'll get to that shortly—it didn't take LucasFilm long to remove the actress from The Mandalorian, as well as from all future projects with the company.
And in the week after Carano's firing, she was... well, busy. Some fans have called for Lucasfilm to rehire Carano, she's seen a large influx of social media followers, and revealed that she will star in a new film project backed by Ben Shapiro. And speaking of the conservative pundit, she responded to the controversy mainly through an interview on his news site, The Daily Wire. Here's everything that has happened in the ongoing story since Carano's initial incentive posts.
Lucasfilm's choice to remove Carano from The Mandalorian likely came as a relief to Star Wars fans who have been calling for her firing since September, when she put the words “boop/bob/beep” in her Twitter bio, in lieu of pronouns. Many saw this as Carano openly mocking trans people. After being accused of this, Carano removed the words from her bio, but fired back at fans, writing that "Beep/bop/boop has zero to do with mocking trans people" and everything "to do with exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voices of many genuine causes." But she said she finally removed the words because her co-star on The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal, helped her understand why people specify their pronouns in their social media bios.
“He helped me understand why people were putting them in their bios," she said. "I didn’t know before but I do now. I won’t be putting them in my bio but good for all you who choose to. I stand against bullying, especially the most vulnerable & [support] freedom to choose.”
There are several other controversial posts that still remain on Carano's social media accounts, however. One includes a quote that says, “Expecting everyone you encounter to agree with every belief or view you hold is fucking wild.” Another one refers to the death of Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that “Jeff Epstein didn’t kill himself.” But it was Tuesday's posts that must have forced Lucasfilm to finally take action. Here's the transcript of the deleted message comparing today's political climate to Nazi Germany, which was written by another account:
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi 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”
All of that considered, it's a wonder that it took Lucasfilm this long to remove Carano from The Mandalorian. But when the company released its statement declaring that the actress is definitely no longer a part of the ongoing Star Wars saga, it didn't mince words.
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Since Lucasfilm released its statement, there has been a contingent of fans calling for Lucasfilm to rehire Carano. A Change.org petition calling for a mea culpa from the company has gained nearly 40,0o0 signatures at the time of this writing. That's all in addition to Carano seeing a significant boost in social media followers since her insensitive posts went viral. When Carano finally responded to her firing, she avoided any apology all together. Instead, she harped on cancel culture—and announced a new gig. Her next project will be with the Ben Shapiro-backed conservative media company, The Daily Wire, where she'll develop a new film project.
"The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams—to develop and produce my own film— come true," the star said to The Daily Wire. "I cried out and my prayer was answered. I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them."
The statement was just a taste of what Carano would have to say in response to Disney and the events of February. On February 20, The Daily Wire released a long interview with Carano, where she discussed the social media posts that led to her firing, her experience working with Disney, and even her co-star on The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal. It's no secret that the two have opposing political views—just look at Pascal tweeting out Texas Senator Ted Cruz's public office phone number back in January if you want any evidence.
"I adore Pedro. I adore him. I know he's said and done some hurtful things. I don't think posting anybody's number on social media is okay. But we had an agreement after we realized we were a little bit politically different. We had an agreement that, first and foremost, you're a human being. And you're my friend first."
Aside from speaking about Pascal, Carano addressed the social media post comparing Nazi Germany to today's political landscape, saying that she is "so inspired by the gentle spirit of the Jewish people," and only wanted to "bring people together" by sharing the message. In the rest of the interview, Carano alleges that Disney accidentally sent her an email that revealed some inner support for her within the company's ranks. Plus, another allegation that Disney has bullied another actor, but Carano wouldn't name them. Here's what Carano had to say about Disney.
"I was prepared at any point to be let go because I've seen this happen to so many people. I've seen the looks on their faces. I've seen the bullying that takes place, and so when this started, they point their guns at you, and you know it's only a matter of time. I've seen it happen to so many people, and I just thought to myself, 'you're coming for me, I know you are.' They're making it very obvious through their employees who were coming for me, and so I was like, 'I'm going to go down swinging and I'm going to stay true to myself.'"
Within the span of a week, Carano went from Star Wars sidekick to an anti-cancel-culture spokesperson—so you can bet that's not the last thing she'll say that'll stir up controversy in the near future.
