Former ‘Mandolorian’ Actress Gina Carano Strikes Back at Disney in Court

The ongoing legal battle between Disney and Gina Carano has taken another turn.

Carl Weathers (Greef), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Gina Carano (Cara Dune) in happier times.

The public back and forth between Disney and former Mandalorian star Gina Carano has been raging for almost three years now since the company fired the Cara Dune actress from the hit Star Wars series over controversial social media posts that the company said denigrated “people based on their cultural and religious identities.” The battle jumped into the courtroom when Carano — financially backed by Elon Musk — filed a lawsuit against Disney in February of 2024 seeking an injunction to return to The Mandalorian.

The latest twist in the Carano saga has played out over the last month. In late April, Disney’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss Carano’s lawsuit, saying that her controversial posts publicly trivialized the Holocaust by “comparing criticism of political conservatives to the annihilation of millions of Jewish people” and that “Disney has a constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech.”

Cara Dune © Disney

However, Carano’s team has fired back, saying in an official response to the motion to dismiss, “After admitting that they discriminated against Carano for her personal political beliefs and subjected her to disparate treatment from her similarly situated male co-stars, The Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm LTD, and Huckleberry Industries (collectively, “Defendants”) assert that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives them absolute immunity. Defendants are incorrect.”

Cara Dune (Gina Carano) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN.

Furthermore, Carano’s team argues that “Neither the First Amendment itself nor the few cases applying the First Amendment in the context of casting give employers the right to control or punish the personal speech of employees. None of Carano’s comments reference Defendants, Star Wars, or The Mandalorian, or had anything to do with Defendants. Carano’s claims do not seek to impose any message on Defendants or to change Defendants’ speech in any fashion”, and finally arguing that “the First Amendment does not give Defendants the carte blanche authority to terminate Carano for expressing her personal beliefs.”

The actress’s team also takes aim at Disney’s description of her social media posts, saying that “…contrary to Defendants’ assertion, Carano did not disparage anyone, and she certainly did not ‘publicly trivialize the Holocaust,’ let alone ‘grotesquely’ do so.”

The Gina Carano vs Disney legal battle seems like it won’t be over anytime soon, especially given the involvement of Elon Musk. Stay tuned to AllEars for further updates on Carano’s legal situation.