In newly filed court documents, Disney has forcefully defended its decision to terminate actress Gina Carano from the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian, citing her “abhorrent” social media posts that trivialized the Holocaust.
The media giant’s response comes as Carano has pursued legal action against the company, seeking reinstatement on the show and damages exceeding $75,000.
The crux of Disney’s argument lies in Gina Carano’s controversial Instagram post from February 2021, which drew an incendiary parallel between the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust and the modern-day treatment of individuals with differing political views.
According to Disney’s filing, Carano shared a post that read:
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realise that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Disney condemned the post as “grotesquely trivializing the Holocaust as comparable to sharp political disagreements,” asserting that it crossed an unacceptable line. The company promptly announced Carano’s termination, with Lucasfilm stating that “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
In the legal filing, Disney doubled down on its stance, underscoring that Carano’s views “didn’t align with Company values” of respect, decency, integrity, and inclusion, as explained by the company’s former CEO. The media giant firmly defended its right to part ways with Carano, arguing that her offensive posts breached the terms of her employment.
“Carano’s presence as a prominent actor on ‘The Mandalorian’ interfered with Disney’s choice not to produce a show associated with her beliefs.”
Gina Carano, however, has maintained her innocence, portraying herself as a victim of “cancel culture” and political correctness run amok. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she lamented the backlash she faced, asserting,
“It became very popular to hate me and pick on me. The Hollywood press and major news outlets coupled me into this extreme right-wing thing that I am not.”
While Carano claims she was merely expressing personal opinions, Disney argues that her offensive remarks violated the company’s core values and could not be tolerated, especially from a high-profile representative of one of its marquee franchises.
