Actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano announced on Tuesday that she was filing a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm — with a little help from Elon Musk and X — over her unceremonious firing for what smears leveled at her claimed were transphobic, racist, and other cancellable topics posted on what was still Twitter at the time.
"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 Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm & there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural & religious identities are abhorrent & unacceptable," Carano recalled in her announcement posted to X.
As most will remember from that time, the claims made against Carano were serious, but laughably false.
"The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time," Carano reminded. "My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me," she said in her post on X.
"The thing is I never even used aggressive language," Carano pointed out. "I shared thought provoking quotes, pictures, memes & occasionally I used my own words, not with aggression but with respect & the occasional comedy to keep the mood light in dark times." Those were dark times indeed.
"Look with your own eyes at what I posted and ask yourself, for example, where did I compare Republicans to the Jewish people in the holocaust?" Carano asked rhetorically in her post. "I didn’t. Ask yourself why they were calling me a racist, was there any merit behind that or history of it whatsoever? No. Look at why I was called a transphobe--for making droid noises from Star Wars? 'Beep, bop, boop' was obviously directed to the online bullies and did not in any way denigrate transgender people," Carano reminded of one of the more outlandish attempts to smear her. "Were my questions about masks, lockdowns & forced vaccines ok to ask & push the subject into the light? Should we have been allowed to publicly discuss those topics at that time without being harassed or censored? Absolutely," she declared.
"Artists do not sign away our rights as American citizens when we enter into employment," Carano emphasized. "I have spoken to all my co-stars since I was fired & there is nothing but care and kind words between us," she revealed. "I respect their right to free speech & do not have to think the same on every issue to be their friends & work with them & I know they feel the same towards me."
Looking to correct the record and gain some remedy for her treatment at the hands of Disney and Lucasfilm, Carano found a willing friend in Elon Musk after he took over Twitter, offloaded its woke nonsense, and turned X into a platform seeking to promote and protect free expression. Along with his policies for the platform, Musk also offered legal representation for users who'd been fired for things they posted on Twitter-turned-X.
Saying "never in my wildest dreams would I have thought anyone would take on my case against Lucasfilm/Disney," Carano explained that she still responded to Musk's offer saying she thought she might qualify. "To my surprise, a few months ago I received an email from a lawyer who had been hired by X to look into my story & many others. Turns out after sending them as much information as I could gather these past few months, my now lawyers & X believe whole-heartedly in my case & are moving forward."
As she moves toward seeking relief for her ordeal, Carano said she "would love to pick up where I left off & continue my journey of creating & participating in story-telling, which is my utmost passion & everything I worked so hard for. It has been difficult to move forward with the lies & labels stuck on me, backed & encouraged by the most powerful entertainment company in the world," she emphasized.
"I am grateful someone has come to my defense in such a powerful way & look forward to clearing my name," remarked Carano. "Thank you to all the people who have supported me & made your voices heard. I pray God blesses each & every one of you."
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