Elon Musk helps “Mandalorian” actress sue Disney over LGBTQ+-related firing

Gina Carano, an actress who was fired from the Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian in early 2021 over her social media posts mocking transgender people and spreading right-wing misinformation, is suing Disney for discrimination and wrongful termination with the help of transphobic billionaire Elon Musk.

Carano played a military veteran who became a mercenary in the hit science-fiction series. However, Lucasfilm, a production company owned by Disney, fired Carano after discovering her right-wing social media posts on Twitter (now X). Her posts criticized transgender identity and Black Lives Matter, spread election conspiracy theories, mocked COVID mask mandates, and compared persecution of Jews to attitudes against Republican Party members.

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On Tuesday, Carano filed a complaint in California federal court against Disney and Lucasfilm, asking the court to order the companies to re-hire her and pay her $75,000 plus punitive damages. She accused the companies of harassing and defaming her for “refusing to conform with their viewpoints on issues relating to Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and disproven claims of election interference,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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One of Carano’s social media posts repeated the baseless claim that fraud caused Trump to lose the 2020 election. Another asked how the Nazis’ anti-Jewish hatred was “any different from hating someone for their political views?” Her Twitter bio also included the phrase “beep/bop/boop,” which people interpreted as mocking the pronouns that transgender and nonbinary people and their allies sometimes put in their social media bios.

After learning of her right-wing social media posts, Disney allegedly told Carano to meet with a representative of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD) and issue a public apology, Carano’s suit said. When she refused, she was allegedly told to meet with Lucasfilm’s president and 45 LGBTQ+ employees. Upon refusing once more, she was fired from The Mandalorian and its planned spin-off Rangers of the New Republic. Carano says Disney’s firing also led to her being dropped by her talent agency, UTA.

Musk is funding her legal challenge as part of his promise to fund legal action for any X users who face discrimination from employers over their activity on the platform.

“My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt-right wing extremist,” Carano said in a statement about her lawsuit. “I am honored that my case has been chosen to be supported by the company that has been one of the last glimmers of hope for free speech in the world.”

It’s unclear if Carano will win her lawsuit since she was an at-will employee, and such employees have not often won legal cases against companies that fire them for social media posts that violate workplace policies, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.

The lawsuit marks the second high-profile attack on Disney by influential right-wingers. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis`(R-FL), whose failed presidential campaign was broadcast by Musk via X, attacked Disney by revoking it self-governing district after the company publicly opposed DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law.

While Musk has constantly promoted X as a platform that values “free speech,” he has used his ownership of the platform to elevate right-wing and antisemitic viewpoints.