Actress Gina Carano filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney on Tuesday with support from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, the tech billionaire has offered legal help to anyone “discriminated against by Disney or its subsidiaries.”
Gina Carano, famous for her role in “The Mandalorian,” was fired by Disney in 2021 after posting controversial statements on social media. She has since filed a lawsuit against the company, which has gained support from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk.
Carano’s lawsuit alleges that she was wrongfully terminated and seeks to force Lucasfilm to recast her. The actress claims she lost millions of dollars in income and argues that her post was taken out of context and used as an excuse to fire her.
After Carano announced her lawsuit on X, Musk offered legal assistance to anyone who has faced discrimination from Disney or its subsidiaries, including ABC, ESPN, and Marvel. His offer was prompted by an ABC chart that was circulated among showrunners, which Musk called “institutionalized racism and sexism.”
The chart, which was reported on by The Hollywood Reporter, sought to increase the inclusion of “Underrepresented Groups” in both on-screen and behind-the-scenes roles. This included quotas for the percentage of “regular and recurring written characters” and “regular and recurring actors” from these groups.
An anonymous source just sent me this from Disney. It is mandatory, institutionalized racism and sexism! pic.twitter.com/npMy8YfA1j
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2024
Disney faced massive backlash for its handling of Carano’s termination, with some of her co-stars even defending her character. Many critics accused the company of bowing to cancel culture and silencing anyone who does not align with their political views.
In the wake of her termination, The Daily Wire announced a partnership with Carano for a feature film, “Terror on the Prairie,” which premiered in June 2022. This partnership further solidified Carano’s stance against Disney and gave her a platform to speak out against censorship.
In her announcement of the lawsuit, Carano stated that she was being “hunted down” and her words were consistently twisted in an attempt to silence her. She also claimed that she was targeted for her political views and labeled as an “alt right wing extremist.”
Today is an important day for me–I am filing a lawsuit against @lucasfilm & @Disney
After my 20 years of building a career from scratch, and during the regime of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Lucasfilm made this statement on Twitter, terminating me from The Mandalorian: “Gina…
— Gina Carano 🕯 (@ginacarano) February 6, 2024
So far, Disney has not issued a public response to Carano’s lawsuit. However, the company has defended its decision to fire the actress, citing her social media posts as “abhorrent and unacceptable.”
This lawsuit and the support from Musk bring to light the ongoing issues of political agendas and cancel culture in the entertainment industry. It also raises questions about the responsibility companies have to protect employees’ freedom of speech and the consequences of firing someone over their personal opinions. This case will likely have a major impact on future employment policies and the way companies handle controversial situations.
