Three years after actor Gina Carano was fired from Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian, the former MMA fighter is suing Disney for wrongful termination.
Carano played the recurring character Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, a series about a bounty hunter and his quest to unite a powerful, young user of the Force with a Jedi knight.
Carano announced the lawsuit this morning via a post on X, formally known as Twitter, confirming that her legal battle against the House of Mouse is funded by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Here's what you need to know.
Why did Disney fire Gina Carano?
Back in February 2021, Carano fell under heavy criticism after she authored a post on social media that likened the Holocaust to the US political climate at the time.
"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbours…. even by children," she said.
"Because history is edited, most people today don't realise that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours hate them simply for being Jews," the actor and former mixed martial artist continued.
"How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?"
Carano deleted the comments but the posts were shared widely online and the hashtag #fireginacarano began to trend.
Shortly after the posts, Lucasfilm a subsidiary of Disney and the production company behind The Mandalorian, confirmed they no longer employed Carano and did not plan to employ her in the future.
"Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable," a statement for Lucasfilm read.
In a social media post Carano released today, the actor defended her former statements.
"Look with your own eyes at what I posted and ask yourself, for example, where did I compare Republicans to the Jewish people in the Holocaust? I didn't. Ask yourself why they were calling me a racist, was there any merit behind that or history of it whatsoever? No," she said.
What does the lawsuit say?
Carano is suing The Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm and Huckleberry Industries for wrongful termination on the basis of sex and political views.
"A short time ago in a galaxy not so far away," the lawsuit genuinely begins.
"Defendants made it clear that only one orthodoxy in thought, speech, or action was acceptable in their empire, and that those who dared to question or failed to fully comply would not be tolerated."
The lawsuit points to comments from Disney's then-CEO Bob Chapek saying Carano was fired "because she didn't align with company values."
"In doing so, Chapek said those company values are "values that are universal: values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity, and values of inclusion," the lawsuit states.
It continues to say that while Carano was persecuted for not adopting an "extreme progressive ideology" her male co-stars were not scrutinised in the same manner.
"Even though "the Force is female," Defendants chose to target a woman while looking the other way when it came to men," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit points to social media posts by Mandalorian co-star Pedro Pascal where it says he "[compares] President Donald Trump to Hitler", claiming that Pascal didn't face the same backlash as Carano for espousing his political opinions.
Social media posts from Star Wars stalwart Mark Hamill are used to compound the same point.
The lawsuit says that in addition to firing her, Lucasfilm/Disney refused to hire her for "promised" roles including further seasons of The Mandalorian, a new series called Rangers of the New Republic and future Star Wars sequels.
A large chunk of the legal papers are dedicated to screenshots of tweets that Carano defines as abuse and harassment.
The lawsuit also attempts to justify other controversial statements from Carano including social media posts that mocked mask wearing during the pandemic, voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election and the changing of her pronouns on social media to beep/bop/boop.
Carano is seeking to be reinstated to her prior position within Disney/Lucasfilm, compensatory damages exceeding $US75,000 ($115,000) as well as emotional damages, punitive damages and legal costs.
The lawsuit also demands that Carano receive a trial by jury.
What does Elon Musk got to do with it?
Carano confirmed billionaire Elon Musk, who also is the owner of X, formally known as Twitter, is bankrolling her legal case.
"A couple months ago Elon Musk tweeted that if you had been fired from using the platform (X) for exercising your right to free speech, he would like to offer these people legal representation," Carano said in a post.
"To my surprise, a few months ago I received an email from a lawyer who had been hired by X to look into my story & many others…I would like to express my deepest gratitude & thank you to Elon Musk & X for giving me an opportunity to bring my case to light."
X's head of business operations Joe Benarroch confirmed the platform and Musk's support of Carano in a statement.
"As a sign of X Corp.'s commitment to free speech, we're proud to provide financial support for Gina Carano's lawsuit, empowering her to seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment, or discrimination," he said.
ABC/AP