Gina Carano fired from ‘The Mandalorian’ over ‘abhorrent’ social posts

Team Grogu will be down a person when The Mandalorian returns for a third season next year. On February 10 Lucasfilm confirmed it has fired Gina Carano, the woman who played Marshall Cara Dune on the Disney+ series, following the actor’s latest social media controversy.

A fan favourite onscreen, Carano’s personal political views have been a divisive presence offscreen for viewers for months now. But her most recent (and now deleted) social media post was the final straw for execs, who weren’t about to stand by as she compared being a Republican today to being Jewish during the Holocaust.

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” In addition to being dropped from the Star Wars franchise, Carano was also dropped as a client by her agency, UTA.

Carano’s firing came after she shared a TikTok post (which has since been shared by others) that led viewers to get #FireGinaCarano trending. “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbours…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize 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,” she wrote.

Carano then posted a photo on her Instagram stories of an unidentified person wearing several masks with the caption, “Meanwhile in California.” She also took that post down, but left up a quote from mindset coach Africa Brooke saying, “Expecting everyone you encounter to agree with every belief or view you hold – is f---ing WILD.” She also left up a meme saying “Jeff Epstein didn’t kill himself.”

This isn’t the first time that Carano has come under fire for sharing controversial posts. In the past the conservative actor has also been criticized for her comments about mask-wearing during the coronavirus pandemic and voter fraud in the wake of the latest U.S. election. Last November she also caused harm in the LGBTQ+ community by changing her pronouns on social media to “beep/bop/boop.”

She later took that down, revealing that co-star Pedro Pascal, whose own sister Lux recently came out as a transgender woman, helped her to understand why some people put their pronouns in their bios. “I didn’t know before but I do now,” she shared at the time as per Deadline. “I won’t be putting them in my bio but good for all you who choose to. I stand against bullying, especially the most vulnerable & freedom to choose.”

An unnamed, inside source close to the situation revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the Powers That Be were “looking for a reason to fire [Carano] for two months, and [Wednesday’s post] was the final straw.” According to the publication, Lucasfilm and Disney had originally been considering a Cara Dune-centric spinoff on Disney+ (one of many planned within the Star Wars franchise following The Mandalorian’s success), and the company was preparing to include the announcement in their December investor’s day presentation. However, after Carano’s November posts, they scrapped those plans. (THR speculates that the announced Rangers of the New Republic may have starred Carano.)

In The Mandalorian, Dune appeared throughout the first two seasons in a supporting role, helping Mando (Pascal) protect Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda) from multiple forces. She had also been named the marshal of Nevarro, and the story had been put in place for her to have more interactions with Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) next season. It’s unclear at time of press whether the character will be recast, or if she will disappear from the story altogether. Filming is expected to begin on season three this spring.

Carano, who is trained in Muay Thai fighting, first shot to fame in women’s MMA. She has since appeared in multiple films with notable fight scenes, including Deadpool and Extraction. However, The Mandalorian was her first major role.

At time of press, Carano had not issued a statement in response to her firing, although she has been liking and sharing posts from fans supporting her on social media. She also announced that she is doing an episode of The Babylon Bee podcast, so interested fans should probably pour some tea and keep a Yoda-sized ear open for that.

BEFORE YOU GO: Pedro Pascal congratulates sister Lux after coming out as transgender

[video_embed id='2136881']Before you go: Pedro Pascal congratulates sister Lux after coming out as transgender[/video_embed]