Gina Carano has officially posted her way out of the Star Wars universe, and so she has no problem speaking out against Disney’s treatment of her after the company announced she would no longer appear on The Mandalorian.
Carano had been outspoken on social media to say the least, sharing anti-trans, anti-Semitic and anti-mask posts online that drew the ire of Star Wars fans who had issues with the offensive nature of comparing being a conservative in modern America to being Jewish in Nazi Germany. Which it was no surprise to anyone when Carano was officially cut loose by Lucasfilm earlier in the month.
The actress who played Cara Dune on The Mandalorian didn’t say much about her firing immediately afterward, though it was announced she would make a movie with right wing commentator Ben Shapiro. An interview with Shapiro will apparently be released this weekend, and Deadline detailed some of the interview that will appear on Sunday. In it, the implausibly quick-talking host and Carano talk cancel culture, including the claim that the actress was “bullied” by Disney before she was fired.
“I’ve been through so much, and I’ve seen so much now, clearly, of the bullying that’s been taking place, and I saw it before,” the actress will tell Shapiro with whom she has a new movie deal. “I’m not the only one that’s ever been bullied by this company, and I know that so deeply,” she will claim.
She adds: “I could share a story which would turn things around in the media but I can’t because it would sell out a friend…Everyone is afraid of losing their job.”
It’s unclear what story could “turn things around” after Carano has irked fans with some truly troubling statements and a clear unwillingness to apologize, but it’s true she doesn’t have to worry about losing her job. In fact, Carano claimed that she found out her time with Disney was at an end like most others did: on Twitter.
“How I found out was that I looked on the internet, and you know, you check your Twitter and I’m trending and the ‘fire Gina Carano’ hashtag worked.”
But she also says she received an email by accident from a Disney staffer following the social media reaction to her posts.
“They accidentally sent me an email, which was very enlightening, so I knew. I knew they were paying attention. I know there were some people who went to bat for me, but I know that they didn’t win out at the end.”
Carano’s social media activity was called “abhorrent” by Lucasfilm in its statement, and the now-deleted posts were widely condemned online as part of a long series of troubling social media moments for the actress. But Carano cast herself as the victim in the interview, repeating claims of “bullying,” unequal treatment of her social media activity and that “they’ve been watching me like a hawk.” At one point, she used an analogy where she said Disney would “point their guns” at her.
Carano said later that “I’m not going down without a fight,” and that fight appears to be one she will wage with a Shapiro-made movie. Whether she is able to find work beyond the right-wing reaction chamber is unclear right now, but what Carano made obvious in the interview is that she has no plans to stop posting. Even after it cost her the biggest role of her career.
[via Deadline]