Following Disney and Lucasfilm’s decision to fire The Mandalorian actress Gina Carano over a series of controversial social media posts that were increasingly anti-Semitic, transphobic, and conspiratorial (Carano pushed anti-mask propaganda along with the “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen), fans have launched an online petition calling for Disney to rehire her. While the petition attempts to take a middle of the road approach by refusing to say whether Carano’s posts were “right or wrong,” but concedes they were a “little extreme,” it doesn’t take long before it rolls out the predictable argument that Carano is a victim of “cancel culture” because of her conservative beliefs. Via Change.org:
This petition is for the executives at Disney. Please, why can’t you just leave politics out of the industry and press on? “The Mandalorian” is a fantastic show, and Gina Carano’s portrayal of Cara Dune is a joy to watch. The Mandalorian wouldn’t be the same without her. To the fans of “The Mandalorian,” please. Speak out. Disney needs to stop the trend of firing actors for controversial tweets, and just keep treating the fans to a great show. Rehire Gina Carano. Firing her isn’t justice.
While Star Wars fans launching online petitions demanding changes to the franchise is nothing new, the authors of this latest endeavor probably should’ve paid attention to Carano’s actions immediately after she was let go by Lucasfilm. The actress signed a movie deal with Ben Shapiro‘s far-right website The DailyWire, and the two of them have been very publicly thumbing their noses at Disney. In fact, Carano claims she couldn’t be happier now that the “totalitarian mob” can’t silence her. “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,” she wrote in a statement to Deadline. “They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them.”
(Via Change.org)