Cancel culture struck again as actress Gina Carano, a star of Disney’s hit show The Mandalorian, was fired for what Lucasfilm called “abhorrent” social media posts. The actress had been under fire for months for her conservative views but was let go after she put up a social media post that, ironically, condemned hatred for those with different political views — comparing such hatred to the feelings and actions that ultimately led to the Holocaust.
Quick Facts
Announcing their decision to fire Carano, Lucasfilm stated, “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Carano, who played the character Cara Dune in the hit show The Mandalorian, was also dropped by United Talent Agency, which will harm her ability to obtain future acting jobs.
In a social media post, which has since been removed, the actress addressed the current political situation by saying, “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 realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Her post included a historic black-and-white image of a crying, clearly distressed Jewish woman who has had some of her clothing ripped off and is trying to get away from angry attackers who are not Nazi soldiers but German men, woman, and children.
It is well-documented that the Nazi government used propaganda, caricatures, and lies to scapegoat the Jews as the cause of the German people’s economic and societal woes. Ironically, leftist journalists and activists have cited the need for Americans to understand this psychological manipulation of the German people so they can also understand how it too could lead to a “fiery, final stop” in the United States under the direction of Republican presidents and their followers.
For example, in 2018, journalist Adam East wrote an essay in Medium that highlighted Nazi history to help his readers come to terms with the fact that, in his opinion, Donald Trump is the new Hitler and his followers the good Germans. He explained, “Understanding the history of Nazi Germany is crucial to truly comprehending the danger of the Trump/Pence regime, their supporters, and their policies. We should not only fear and oppose the outright violent minority that have spiked rates of hate crimes, but more importantly we should fear and oppose the slow normalization and legalization of the subtle (and not so subtle) actions that target and attack specific communities.”
In her post, Carano didn’t equate Nazi propaganda and violence with any specific political views or modern political figures as East did. She was merely stating a historic fact. However, it is well known that she is a conservative as her social media messages have previously run afoul of political puritans who have called her out for going against leftist orthodoxy.
In September, Carano was accused of mocking transgenders by posting “Beep/bop/boop” on her Twitter rather than her gender identification. Carano responded by saying, “Beep/bop/boop has zero to do with mocking trans people & [everything] to do with exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voices of many genuine causes.”
Two months later, Carano drew criticism and demands for her firing due to posts that criticized Democratic leaders’ mask mandates and called for cleaning up election fraud. Their demands caused #FireGinaCarano to begin trending on Twitter.
In response to the controversy over her social media posts, Carano’s co-stars in The Mandalorian expressed support. Pedro Pascal, who plays the show’s titular character, shared an Instagram post of the two characters hugging with a caption that said, “Friendship. #ThisIsTheWay.” The hashtag is a famous quote from the show. This past November, Pascal posted a social media post comparing Trump voters to Nazis.
Costars Carl Weathers and Ming-Na Wen also shared heartfelt messages of support for Carano.
After Carano’s most recent post, the hashtag #FIreGinaCarano started trending again and the actress was soon fired.
Some fans pointed out the hypocrisy of Lucasfilm for firing Carano since they are keeping on Pascal despite his previous post about Nazis.
The reaction to Carano’s social media posts only serves to prove her point. Was it ill-advised to make a comparison between today’s political climate and that which led to genocide in Nazi Germany? Possibly, but Carano wasn’t calling political opponents Nazis. She was expressing the danger of our current climate where hatred for someone with opposing political views is commonplace and increasingly acceptable.
Ironically, left-wing fans dehumanized Carano and called for her firing simply because she holds opposing views. And she was fired — not for denigrating people based on their beliefs — but because her own views differed from those of Lucasfilm executives. As a private company, Lucasfilm and Disney have the right to fire Carano, but let’s at least be honest about the hypocrisy of the situation. An actress who warned of the dangers of hating your neighbor based on their political beliefs is fired for “denigrating” people, but an actor who calls Trump voters Nazis is welcome at Lucasfilm.
I want to be clear: I am not calling for Pascal to be fired. I don’t like his politics but he does a great job playing the Mandalorian and he is entitled to his views. Carano is also good at her job and she should be given the same freedom of speech and opinion as Pascal or anyone else.
The left and the media have been denigrating conservatives for decades. Democrats have continually referred to Republicans as racists, fascists, deplorables, the dregs of society, and Nazis. Whether it’s Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Gina Carano, or Republican voters, there is no consequence to anyone who not only compares them to Nazis but openly labels them Nazis. The left turns on anyone who does not hold its views.
Carano should be a hero to progressives who claim to want to see more “strong female” characters on the screen. She became a star in a hit show by playing a female character who routinely beats up male enemies. What’s more, she is actually believable in the role. As a former MMA fighter, I believe she actually could take down most men. In fact, she is the very definition of the “strong, powerful, and independent” woman that the left claims to want. Unfortunately, Carano is also strong enough to question leftist orthodoxy so she is no longer allowed to play that role anymore. Instead, she must be labeled as white supremacist, racist, anti-Semitic, and transphobic — and canceled.
