Gina Carano says she found about her exit from Lucasilm’s popular Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, on social media.
Carano, who is widely credited as a pioneer of women’s mixed martial arts, lost her role on The Mandalorian after sharing a controversial social media post that compared the treatment of conservatives in the United States to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.
Carano had originally expected to return to for season three of The Mandalorian. After her latest and most controversial social media post, however, Lucasfilm decided to part ways with her outright—but she didn’t find out until she saw the news on social media like everybody else.
“Earlier on last year before The Mandalorian came out, they wanted me to use their exact wording for an apology over pronoun usage,” Carano told New York Times’ columnist Bari Weiss. “I declined and offered a statement in my own words. I made clear I wanted nothing to do with mocking the transgender community, and was just drawing attention to the abuse of the mob in forcing people to put pronouns in their bio.
“That was heartbreaking, but I didn’t want to take away from the hard work of everyone who worked on the project, so I said OK,” Carano added. “That was the last time I was contacted about any type of public statement or apology from Lucasfilm. I found out through social media, like everyone else, that I had been fired.”
Carano went on to question whether her controversial social media post was actually anti-Semitic, emphasizing that she has nothing but respect for the Jewish community.
“I was in utter shock and confusion when certain people said it was antisemitic,” Carano said.. “Then, as I went to take it down, I noticed that the image was not the same as the one people were referencing. I was honestly confused: should I take it down, or leave it up? I still don’t know the answer to that question, because taking it down only makes the mob attack you more.
“The image for me was a statement that people need to stand together and rise up, stop being so manipulated by the powers that believe they know what’s best for you and play games with our lives. My heart has only ever had ultimate respect and love for the Jewish community.”
What are your thoughts on Lucasfilm’s decision to relieve Gina Carano of her duties on The Mandalorian?