Gina Carano played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian.
Disney Plus
Gina Carano hasn’t kept silent after Lucasfilm stated she would not appear as Cara Dune in future seasons of The Mandalorian or other upcoming Star Wars projects. The former MMA fighter has now claimed that, in the lead up to her firing, Disney and Lucasfilm “bullied” her.
“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,” Carano said on a special episode of The Ben Shapiro Show this weekend. “I’m not the only one that’s ever been bullied by this company, and I know that so deeply.
“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.”
Carano had reportedly been warned by Disney and Lucasfilm about her controversial social media posts on mask-wearing amid the pandemic, voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, the Black Lives Matter movement and the use of pronouns on social media bios.
But it was Carano’s now deleted Instagram post likening being a Republican today to being Jewish during the Holocaust that caused Lucasfilm to issue a statement saying the studio would no longer employ the actress. Carano was also dropped by her talent agents at UTA.
Carano addressed the Instagram post and explained that she was “inspired by the gentle spirit of the Jewish people going through that time,” adding, “[w]hen I posted that it wasn’t something that I felt was controversial. It was something that I thought, well, maybe all of us need to ask ourselves how that happened.
“I’ve got every single big publication saying she’s comparing conservatives and Republicans to this and that’s not really what I was doing… I have love for everyone. I’m not a hateful person.”
Carano said she knew Disney officials were paying attention to the #FireGinaCarano movement that started last year, thanks to an email that they accidentally sent to her.
“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 said.
In the lead up, Carano said she’d already felt that she was being “head-hunted” by Disney and Lucasfilm.
“You know how boxers head-hunt sometimes and forget to go for the body? I feel like Disney or Lucasfilm or whoever it is, just certain people at that company… I feel like I’ve been being head-hunted,” Carano said.
“And you can feel it. Just a couple of weeks ago, Lucasfilm asked an artist that they employ to erase my character and put a different character in place, and he proudly announces this on Twitter, and erases my character and puts another character in place.
“All the fans of Cara Dune were just outraged. They were like ‘Why didn’t you add the character? Why did you have to take off the character? Is there something wrong? Is Gina getting fired?”
Fans had speculated Cara Dune would appear in the upcoming Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic series, though it hadn’t been confirmed.
Carano reportedly discovered her status with Star Wars on social media when Lucasfilm released its statement calling her comments “abhorrent” and “unacceptable.” But she said she’d been “prepared” to be let go.
“I was prepared at any point to be let go, because I’ve seen this happen to so many people,” Carano said. “I’ve seen the looks on their faces. I’ve seen the bullying that takes place, and so when this started, they point their guns at you, and you know it’s only a matter of time. I’ve seen it happen to so many people, and I just thought to myself… ‘you’re coming for me, I know you are.’
“They’re making it very obvious through their employees who were coming for me, and so I was like, ‘I’m going to go down swinging and I’m going to stay true to myself.'”
Days after Lucasfilm released its statement, Carano said she’s going to star in a new film with Shapiro’s The Daily Wire conservative news site.
Despite the severed ties with Star Wars, Carano said she wouldn’t go down “without a fight.”
“The thought of this happening to anybody else, especially to somebody who could not handle this the way I can, no, they don’t get to do that,” Carano said.
“They don’t get to make people feel like that… and if I buckle, it’ll make it okay for these companies, who have a history of lying, to be lying and to do this to other people, and they’ve done it to other people, and I’m not going down without a fight.”
Watch the full conversation below.
