Judge Evaluates Viability of Gina Carano’s Wrongful Termination Case Against Disney

Actress Gina Carano’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm might be able to move forward three years after she was fired from the “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” a judge indicated on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett noted that she would soon make a ruling in Carano’s case against the company despite Disney’s attorney asking for the case to be dismissed on the basis of First Amendment rights, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Disney had argued it has a “right not to associate with a high-profile performer on a high-profile show who’s imbuing” the “Star Wars” series with “views it disagrees with” that could turn fans away from the show, the outlet noted.

According to Bloomberg, Carano’s claim is that her termination, while mostly about her political views, was also in relation to Disney attempting to “deflect from criticisms” of Disney+ and the leadership of then-CEO Bob Chapek. Regarding Disney’s claims clashing with Carano’s, Judge Garnett said, “Wouldn’t that suggest there’s a factual dispute as to why Disney actually terminated her?”

Related: Gina Carano Sues Disney. Elon Does God’s Work, Pays For Her Lawyers

After her appearance in court, Carano took to X and wrote, “Disney should not have carte blanch authority to fire any actor just because Disney disagrees with something they say outside of work. No actor would be free to have a voice if that were true. I look forward to this case moving forward and proving Disney’s blatant discriminatory actions.”

In the beautiful halls of the federal court in Los Angeles I was quite amazed at its splendor. I half expected to see Tom Cruise come sailing down the center like in the Mission Impossible movies.

Having just left court, the judge said she would issue a ruling in the near…

— Gina Carano 🕯 (@ginacarano) June 12, 2024

In February, the star of DailyWire+ film “Terror on the Prairie” filed a lawsuit against Disney, after the entertainment giant cut ties with the actress over what it deemed “offensive” social media posts, as previously reported.

The lawsuit alleges that Carano was wrongfully terminated, losing millions of dollars in income, and seeks to force Lucasfilm to recast her.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP

The actress was axed by Disney after she posted a screenshot of another social media post that warned of the current political climate resembling Nazi Germany. Her post read, “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?”

Disney faced massive backlash for its actions against Carano, while some of the actress’ fellow castmates defended her “gracious” character. Shortly after the high-profile termination, The Daily Wire announced that it had partnered with the former mixed martial artist for a movie deal that resulted in the feature film “Terror on the Prairie,” which premiered in June 2022.

Zach Jewell contributed to this piece.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect the status of the case.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases