If over-the-top statements likening one’s political opponents to Nazis are grounds for firing, Hollywood is in trouble.
Gina Carano is a former MMA fighter, outspoken Republican, and co-star of Disney’s The Mandalorian. On Wednesday, Lucasfilm—the Disney-owned studio that produces The Mandalorian and other Star Wars properties—denounced her social media posts and said there were no plans to include her in any future projects. « Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future, » said Lucasfilm in a statement. « Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable. » This statement apparently referenced a recent Instagram post of Carano’s that did indeed contain a tortured and offensively hyperbolic analogy. Carano did not « denigrate people based on their cultural and religious identity, » however. And while Disney is within its rights to cease working with an actress who occasionally makes provocative right-wing comments, it’s impossible to ignore the double standard at play here, since similarly provocative statements from liberal Star Wars cast members have not resulted in any sanction. Here is what Carano wrote on Instagram: 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.
