‘Mandalorian’ Actress Fired by Disney After Sharing Conservative Posts Scores Key Victory in Lawsuit, Will Learn Co-Stars’ Salaries

Gina Carano, the “Mandalorian” star fired by the Walt Disney Company for criticizing the treatment of conservatives in a post that controversially invoked the Holocaust, has scored a significant legal victory after a judge ordered Disney to hand over compensation figures for other “Star Wars” actors. Ms. Carano is suing Disney for allegedly wrongly terminating her from “The Mandalorian,” the biggest hit on the Disney+ streaming service.Ms. Carano, who arguably had the biggest role on show after Pedro Pascal, who plays the Mandalorian bounty hunter, and Grogu (a non-speaking role performed by a puppet), was terminated by Disney after she posted a comment on Twitter comparing treatment of conservatives to treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. The judge overseeing Ms. Carano’s lawsuit, who has refused efforts by Disney’s lawyers to get the case dismissed, has ordered Disney to disclose financial records that include the compensation of A-list actors like Mr. Pascal, Rosario Dawson, and others involved in Disney’s “Star Wars” franchise, including Disney+ “Star Wars” shows and a forthcoming major feature film about the Mandalorian and Grogu in which Ms. Carano would likely have been cast had she not been fired. The order was hailed by Ms. Carano’s attorney as a “major step forward” for his client’s case, noting that the documents will offer “key evidence” of the financial damages she incurred as a result of her termination. Disney, according to the order, must hand over the documents within 20 days. “This is a small breath of fresh air in this long arduous process. I am grateful to the court for moving so quickly,” Ms. Carano shared on social media on Monday. She added that she was looking forward to “clearing my name, which will allow me to continue doing what I love without such brutal discrimination.” The judge did not grant Ms. Carano’s request to obtain budget and profit data from Disney’s “Star Wars” productions. However, that request can be renewed after her legal team fulfils a series of stipulations. Ms. Carano, a mixed martial artist and actress who played bounty hunter Cara Dune for two seasons on “The Mandalorian,” and whose performance was widely praised, claims that the company unfairly fired her from the series because of her right-wing political views. The actress, who has also appeared in blockbuster films, “Fast & Furious 6” and “Deadpool,” has long faced criticism from the left-leaning Hollywood community for her conservative political commentary, which she openly shares online. Things came to a head in 2021, however, when Ms. Carano shared a post on her Instagram story that likened hating people for political differences to the treatment of Jews during the holocaust. “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,” Ms. Carano re-shared.The post, which she later deleted, spread on social media like wildfire and critics joined in on a viral #FireGinaCarano hashtag. Amid the uproar, Disney’s production company, Lucasfilm, announced that Ms. Carano was “not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future.” The production company added that the actress’s “social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”According to Hollywood insiders, Lucasfilm had grown weary of Ms. Carano’s political commentary for some time and was “looking for a reason to fire her for two months.” The latest social media firestorm “was the final straw.” In addition to the Holocaust post controversy, Ms. Carano had faced criticism for sharing anti-masking posts and was accused of transphobia, with some pointing to her social media bio, “beep/bop/boop,” as evidence of her mocking the use of gender pronouns. Ms. Carano responded to her ousting by filing in February 2024 a wrongful dismissal and sex discrimination lawsuit against LucasFilm and its owner, Disney, who she claims retaliated against her after “she dared voice her own opinions” and “stood up to the online bully mob who demanded her compliance with their extreme progressive ideology,” the complaint reads. Ms. Carano is seeking financial compensation for her untimely termination. The actress’s plight was picked up by Elon Musk’s X, which offered to foot her legal bills. X’s head of business operations, Joe Benarroch, stated that the company’s decision to help Ms. Carano’s “seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment, or discrimination” was a reflection of “X Corp’s commitment to free speech.” Mr. Musk, who identifies as a free speech absolutist, had previously vowed to fund the legal bill of anyone who was “unfairly treated” by their employer “due to posting or liking something on this platform,” he shared on X in August 2023. He added: “No limit.” Ms. Carano thanked Mr. Musk and his X Corporation in her Monday statement, sharing that “I remain incredibly grateful for this opportunity to defend myself against this Goliath.” The discovery order comes as Ms. Carano has accused Disney of “dragging its feet” and failing to cooperate with her legal team’s discovery requests. Due to their stalling, she stated, her lawyers filed the motion to compel, which was ultimately granted by the judge. Disney has tried, unsuccessfully, to dismiss the case, arguing that the First Amendment grants the company “a constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech.” In a motion to dismiss filed in April, Disney cited Ms. Carano’s decision “to publicly trivialize the Holocaust by comparing criticism of political conservatives to the annihilation of millions of Jewish people — notably, not ‘thousands’” (a dig at Ms. Carano’s post which understated the death count of the Holocaust) as “the final straw.” Disney also tried to file a motion for the court to order a stay of proceedings — to temporarily halt the case — as well as an interlocutory appeal, which would prompt a higher court to review specifics of the case during litigation. Both motions were denied.The trial is set to begin on September 29, 2025.

‘Mandalorian’ Actress Fired by Disney After Sharing Conservative Posts Scores Key Victory in Lawsuit, Will Learn Co-Stars’ Salaries

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