Gina Carano and Disney reach settlement over her alleged wrongful termination from 'The Mandalorian'

Actress Gina Carano reached a settlement with Disney, a company she had sued for wrongful termination more than three years ago. "I'm excited to turn the page and move on to the next chapter," the performer wrote on social media, confirming the settlement.

Carano sued The Walt Disney Company and one of its subsidiaries, Lucasfilm, after she was terminated in 2021 from The Mandalorian, a part of the Star Wars saga in which she starred between 2019 and 2020.

While from the production company justified her dismissal claiming that she had made "abhorrent & unacceptable" publications, "denigrating people based on their cultural & religious identities," Carano herself assured that she had been canceled for her political ideas.

In her lawsuit, the also Deadpool and Fast & Furious 6 actress asserted that Disney had damaged her reputation, damaging her ability to get other jobs. Leading, in addition, to her being harassed by an "extreme progressive" crowd online.

The hashtag #FireGinaCarano (#FireAGinaCarano) went viral before her dismissal. Her posts ranged from issues such as trans representation to election integrity and the death of Epstein — "didnt kill himself." The post that is believed to have been the last straw for the company was one in which she wrote:

"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?"

Carano denied all the accusations. "The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time," she defended then. "My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me."

She also took aim at the industry in general: "Artists do not sign away our rights as American citizens when we enter into employment. I have spoken to all my co-stars since I was fired & there is nothing but care and kind words between us. I respect their right to free speech & do not have to think the same on every issue to be their friends & work with them & I know they feel the same towards me."

If at the time Lucasfilm assured that there were no plans to work with the actress again "in the future," the tone from one of its spokespeople this Thursday was very different: "The company look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future."

Musk steps in

In her message Thursday, the former martial arts fighter-turned-actress dedicated a few words to the world's richest person: "I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk, @elonmusk a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit. Thank you Mr. Musk and @X for backing my case and asking for nothing in return."

In February 2024, the former Trump advisor publicly pledged to provide legal support to any employee who had been discriminated against by Disney or any of its subsidiaries, such as ABC, ESPN, Marvel or Lucasfilm. Musk launched the offer after sharing an image that allegedly revealed the entertainment giant's hiring criteria, which appeared to mandate having at least 50% of staff from underrepresented groups and including them in narratives. "It is mandatory, institutionalized racism and sexism!" he opined at the time:

Carano had previously recounted that, with little hope that it would work for her, she replied to Musk saying that her case probably fit his offer. Shortly thereafter, she was contacted by lawyers who represented her during the process.

One of them, Gene Schaerr, wrote after the settlement was announced that he was "honored" to have helped both sides in "resolving their differences." "May the force be with both of them!"