Gina Carano has officially been cut from The Mandalorian after making a series of inflammatory comments on social media, which is the right decision for the future of the series and Lucasfilm as a whole. On February 10, a statement released by Lucasfilm announced that the actor's contract for The Mandalorian season 3 was not renewed and that she would not be taking part in any of the studio's future projects. Though met with a wave of backlash from Carano's fans, the move was ultimately supported - and was the right one.
The decision certainly couldn't have been made lightly. Carano's character, Cara Dune, was popular with most fans, many of whom regarded her as a welcome addition to Star Wars' growing pantheon of strong female heroines. Cara Dune has been something of a staple in The Mandalorian, an ally to the show's titular hero and his companion Grogu, most recently playing a prominent role in the show's much-talked-about season 2 finale. There had also been mutterings that Dune would appear in her own spinoff show (perhaps the already announced Rangers of the New Republic spinoff, which could have explored her backstory as a Rebel fighter). Yet, it seems as though those plans will not come to fruition - at least, not with Carano's involvement.
After the news of her being let go, Carano's supporters predictably took to social media to express their outrage. Creating a hashtag encouraging others to unsubscribe from Disney+, they vociferously accused "cancel culture" and "liberalism" as the forces behind the actor's newfound unemployment. But, if truth be told, it seems as though many people are confusing unjust "cancellation" with having to accept the consequences for one's own actions.
Why Lucasfilm Cut Ties With Gina Carano Explained
In their statement, Lucasfilm deemed Carano's recent remarks "abhorrent and unacceptable." On February 9 (the day which preceded the announcement) as well as on February 10, Carano made a series of unsavory social media posts, some of which she later removed. Early on, the actor stated Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself and mocked mask-wearing in response the COVID-19, the pandemic which has already killed over 470,000 Americans. Yet, Carano's most troubling statement came in the form of a comparison of Conservatives' treatment in the United States to the persecution of Jews in Nazi-era Germany. This comes after Carano's support of former President Donald Trump's disproven allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 Presidential Election.
This is hardly the first time that Gina Carano has come under fire for offensive remarks made on the internet. Primarily using Twitter as the vehicle to articulate her controversial statements, the former MMA fighter repeatedly displayed unapologetic transphobia, at one point adding "beep/bob/boop" to her bio, a taunt seemingly directed at trans and genderqueer users who share their own preferred gender pronouns. Carano was critical of the Black Lives Matter protests and the larger movement, often questioning the notion of systemic racism and blaming "extreme leftism" for the country's unrest. She's been making controversial comments for quite some time now, and reportedly, Lucasfilm had been looking for a way to fire her since the late fall. It was only now, after her recent attempt at falsely equating what happened to Jews during the Holocaust with being a Republican in 2021, that got her fired from the studio.
Lucasfilm Letting Gina Carano Go Was The Right Decision
Despite having turned a blind eye to her past remarks, Lucasfilm and Disney were obviously unable to ignore Carano's latest posts, which, in their words, were responsible for “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities.” Undoubtedly, the words themselves are ugly; a false comparison that rings of anti-Semitism when considering the horrors of the Holocaust, which cruelly and systematically murdered some six million people. Yet, this outlandish post has been seen by many as the inevitable boiling point after Carano's previously unchecked and increasingly alarming rhetoric.
While many people are suggesting "cancelling" Carano is indicative of Disney's catering to liberal audiences, it likely has much more to do with her being a liability for the studio going forward. Of course, Carano's words run the risk of losing segments of The Mandalorian's fanbase after making such disquieting remarks - many of which spread misinformation and echo sentiments not in line with the company's brand. Many stories told under Disney's corporate umbrella disavow hate and injustice, Star Wars very much among them. Keeping an actor who deliberately doubles down on these sentiments (which could impact the life of a child watching her onscreen) would certainly be discordant, to say the least.
To Disney's credit, there have been some incremental moves toward more inclusivity in recent years. The Disney-Pixar film Soul featured a Black protagonist, the first in Pixar's history. Marvel Studio's Black Panther featured a nearly all-Black cast and was a resounding success, both in terms of representation and box office returns. Star Wars itself took a small step toward queer representation in The Rise of Skywalker, which saw two female (albeit minor) characters kiss during a triumphant celebration of victory. To keep Carano under their employment might signal insincerity regarding the studio's stated commitment toward wider representation; representation that many audience members have been waiting on for far too long.
Some of Carano's supporters have argued that her removal from The Mandalorian is a violation of her rights. The thing is, she is still free to speak her views, however offensive or damaging they may be. She still has a platform at her fingertips and has not been called into court over her remarks, nor should she be. In truth, there are many employers that would be within their right to fire someone over statements as off-putting as these. Gina Carano was well-aware of the pain inflicted by her words, yet she asserted it was her right to share them. But it was also within Lucasfilm's right to hold her accountable.