Gina Carano, the actress who was booted from The Mandalorian after invoking the Holocaust in a social media post, is defending her controversial comments.
Her dismissal was announced on Wednesday because “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,” according to a spokesperson for Lucasfilm. She played the role of former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune on the first two seasons of the Lucasfilm and Disney+ show, and there were reports that she was in line for a big part in a spinoff.
“I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob,” Carano said in a statement on Friday. “I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them.”
Instead, she’ll be partnering with the Daily Wire to produce a movie, according to the conservative outlet. The project will be made as a part of the company’s partnership with Dallas Sonnier and his production company, Bonfire Legend.
“The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams — to develop and produce my own film — come true. I cried out and my prayer was answered,” the statement continued.
Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire co-founder and editor emeritus, welcomed Carano, whom he credited for “refus[ing] to bow to the mob.”
“We could not be more excited to be working with Gina Carano, an incredible talent dumped by Disney and Lucasfilm for offending the authoritarian Hollywood Left. This is what Daily Wire exists to do: provide an alternative not just for consumers, but for creators who refuse to bow to the mob,” Shapiro said. “We’re eager to bring Gina’s talent to Americans who love her, and we’re just as eager to show Hollywood that if they want to keep canceling those who think differently, they’ll just be helping us build the X-wing to take down their Death Star.”
Carano, in a since-deleted Instagram story posted to her account on Tuesday, likened the national political divide to the treatment of Jews by Nazis.
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children,” Carano wrote. “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, the former mixed martial arts fighter-turned-Disney star, has also made controversial statements on social media about face masks used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, voter fraud in the 2020 elections, and social media bios listing preferred pronouns.
