Three years after Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian for the backlash caused when she made a post equating having different political opinions to that of being Jewish during the Holocaust, the actress and former MMA fighter is now suing Disney and Lucasfilm – and using former co-star Pedro Pascal to establish her defense. At the time, her comments were called antisemitic. In addition, other posts she made were also called out for being transphobic.
In the lawsuit, Carano is suing her former employers for discrimination and wrongful termination. According to The Independent, there is a section of the lawsuit where she lists social media posts made by Pascal and Mark Hamill in an effort to show that they were not fired for expressing themselves online like she was.
“Carano respects the rights of her co-stars to express their views on social media, even if they differ from her own, and she remains personally fond of each of them,” the lawsuit reads. “However, Defendants’ treatment of Carano stands in stark contrast to Defendants’ embrace of her male co-stars and other male employees, so the following examples are provided to demonstrate the discriminatory treatment Carano endured at the hands of Defendants.
The lawsuit cites examples where Pascal posts his support of Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ rights. His sister is trans actress Lux Pascal.
“On June 27, 2020, Pascal posted two Disney-owned Muppet characters, Bert and Ernie, as activists waving a transgender and LGBTQ+ pride flag and promoting ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Defund the Police,’” the lawsuit reads. The art in question as fanart.
The lawsuit goes on to argue that “Pascal was not disciplined, required to review documentaries on any of these topics or speak to individuals with contrary points of view, or pressured to apologize for any of his posts. His employment was not terminated, and Defendants made no public statements about his social media posts, much less refer to them as ‘abhorrent,’” a word Lucasfilm used to describe the posts that got Carano canned.
In a twist that we can’t say is surprising, Elon Musk is flipping the bill for Carano’s legal defense.