For the past couple of months Gina Carano has been involved in a string of social media controversies. At one point the producers of the show The Mandalorian -in which she played Cara Dune- fired her from any of her character’s continuations because she posted ‘abhorrent’ social-media posts. 

Gina Joy Carano was born April 16 1982  in Dallas County, Texas (US) to Dana Joy and Glenn Thomas Carano, a professional football player. At 21, she started Muay Thai training with Master Toddy. She competed in american mixed martial arts organizations such as Strikeforce and EliteXC. Her popularity led to her being called the “Face of Women’s MMA”. She made many accomplishments in regards to her fighting career, and was often ridiculed for being a fighter with great looks. Sadly after her heart-breaking loss to Cyborg, Gina never returned to the ring. 

Following her MMA career, she acted in ‘Fast and Furious’ (2013), ‘In The Blood’ (2014), and ‘Deadpool’ (2016). In December 2018, she was announced as part of the cast of The Mandalorian Lucasfilm’s first live-action Star Wars television series. She portrayed the character Cara Dune with a first appearance in the fourth episode of the first season. She initially believed she would be playing the role of a female Wookie, and was surprised that people were going to ‘see her face.’ Her real-life success in the sport, beauty, and personality drew her a significant number of fans.

Carano’s controversy started on Twitter when she began sharing alt-right content and denounced wearing masks during the pandemic. She continued multiple debatable posts regarding a German man resisting raising a stiff arm amid Hitler’s presence. Of course Lucasfilm had to respond to the abundance of backlash not only she was receiving but also what she in turn was conveying. Lucasfilm made a statement regarding her position saying:

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.“

―Official Lucasfilm statement on Carano’s employment status

In most people’s opinion it would make sense that she should be able to say wherever she wants but since she’s in a public position, ideally needs to be very careful what she says. Elena Moreno (10) agrees that she received retaliation for a good cause, she states, “It sounds like she got what was coming to her. You can’t just go around openly addressing serious and controversial matters without paying the price.” Gina tried to say something but the way she did was wrong. Lucasfilms just couldn’t protect her from the backlash, she was just pushing it and it landed her with a loss of employment.