The Shady Side Of Gina Carano
Gina Carano's road to fame started as a Muay Thai fighter who compiled an impressive 7-1 record in Women's Mixed Martial Arts (The MMA Corner). Her meteoric rise in the late 2000s earned her a reluctant title as the "face of women's MMA." Carano's fighting skills and stunning looks quickly caught the attention of Hollywood, and she nabbed her first lead role in acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh's 2011 action flick Haywire. Things moved quickly thereafter as she secured roles in Fast & Furious 6 and Deadpool.
Her largest role came in 2019 as Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper turned mercenary, in the critically-acclaimed Disney + series The Mandalorian. "When I got this job, I instantly was like, 'Oh my gosh, I get to be a part of a whole other family," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. After two seasons on the TV show, rumors swirled that Carano had landed her own spinoff series, but then, well, she started to be terminally online.
Over the course of 2020, Carano spouted highly controversial views and regularly got into arguments on social media. Instead of lying low and "securing the bag" as the kids say, she routinely doubled down. So buckle up and let's take a deep dive into the shady side of Gina Carano.
Gina Carano pushed COVID-19 misinformation
Based on analysis from its own research, The Brookings Institute declared in September 2020, 'Politics is wrecking America's pandemic response." The think tank's conclusion, based on responses from 50,000 survey participants, was essentially that extreme partisan rhetoric, from politicians, pundits, and social media, had clearly undermined trust in sound public policy towards combating the spread of COVID-19. So, how does Gina Carano factor in there?
On Sep. 6, 2020, Carano tweeted that churches and businesses should open up again in defiance of closure mandates, and alluded to the fact that Black Lives Matter protests were allowed to go on as planned. That popular right-wing conflation had already been debunked for months as protests were deemed to not have been a factor in coronavirus case surges, while churches that re-opened early and gathered indoor for worship, in fact, actually were.
Carano also shared what appeared to be anti-mask memes on at least two occasions, which we won't link to or share here, so as not to spread misinformation. But we will say that the guidance on mask-wearing and mask mandates, while uneven early in the pandemic response, has become more than clear thanks to countless studies that have shown that masks work in reducing the spread of COVID-19.
Why did Gina Carano share a Nazi rally photo?
During the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, Gina Carano inexplicably shared a caption-less photo from a 1936 Nazi rally in which she circled the one man not giving the Nazi salute. Critics quickly pounced, suggesting the use of that kind of imagery, for whatever point she was making, wasn't well-timed. But since Carano lives by the true poster's creed, she immediately dismissed any criticism as the work of "trolls."
She later explained that the photo was the "heartbreaking and powerful story of a man who changed his ways for the woman he loved," and expressed "love changes the world, one person at a time." Which, okay sure. But then she lashed out at critics trying to explain to her how the use of Nazi imagery, for whatever purpose, tends to cause a negative knee-jerk reaction. "In my experience, screaming at someone that they are a racist when they are indeed NOT a racist & any post and/or research you do will show you those exact facts, then I'm sorry, these people are not 'educators.' They are cowards and bullies," she tweeted.
Detractors responded by rounding up Carano's likes on anti-BLM posts (via Vanity Fair), which, of course does not equate to overt racism. It does, however, kind of take the wind out the argument that questions about her stance on racially divisive issues are just baseless bullying.
Gina Carano was accused of being transphobic
In September 2020, Carano found herself in social media hot water once again after putting "boop/bop/beep" in her profile after being encouraged to put her pronouns in her Twitter bio (via The Independent). Critics felt the decision came off as transphobic, but when asked by a radio talk show host why the "woke world" was upset with her, Carano replied, "They're mad cuz I won't put pronouns in my bio to show my support for trans lives. After months of harassing me in every way. I decided to put 3 VERY controversial words in my bio.. beep/bop/boop, I'm not against trans lives at all. They need to find less abusive representation."
She then tried to explain her choice of words by tweeting, "Beep/bop/boop has zero to do with mocking trans people [heart emoji] & [100% emoji] to do with exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voices of many genuine causes. I want people to know you can take hate with a smile. So BOOP you for misunderstanding."
Carano reversed course after guidance from her Mandalorian co-star Pedro Pascal, whose sister later came out as transgender. "He helped me understand why people were putting them in their bios," she said (via Variety), adding, "I didn't know before but I do now. I won't be putting them in my bio but good for all you who choose to. I stand against bullying, especially the most vulnerable & freedom to choose."
Gina Carano peddled election conspiracies
Gina Carano, an ardent Donald Trump supporter, lent her voice to election conspiracy theories and openly questioned the legitimacy of President Joe Biden's win. Again, we're not sharing the specifics of those posts due to avoid the harmful spread of misinformation. According to Yahoo! News, Carano also joined Parler, the "social media platform that has been linked to spreading far-right conspiracy theories." That would also be the platform where extremist groups allegedly planned the insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020.
As of this writing, Carano has yet to express an understanding of the link between election misinformation and the real-world violence that occurred as a result. She did, however, tell Drunk3PO during a January 2021 appearance that she doesn't back away from fights on social media and refuses to stop sharing her beliefs. "I'm going to stay around and if my presence bothers you, okay, but also a lot of people are not bothered by my Twitter presence or my social media presence," she said. "So I focus more on those people. I bring the fire out in people. ... I'm not sure why."
The Gina Carano social media post that became the last straw
On Feb. 9, 2021, Gina Carano returned to her ill-advised penchant for Nazi object lessons when she posted the following comparison in an Instagram Story. "Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors.... even by children," the meme read. "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?"
Obviously, only one thing should ever be compared to the Holocaust and that's the Holocaust. As expected, commenters blasted Carano's remarks as anti-Semitic. "If you wanna know what it was like to be a Jew in the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, I can give you my 95-year-old grandmother's phone number," one outraged critic tweeted, adding, "The Nazis killed both her parents, all 6 siblings & all extended family. She'd be happy to tell you to f*** of." While it's unclear exactly what "political views" Carano was referencing in her Instagram commentary, one Twitter user suggested, "Carano thinks people calling her transphobic is the same as the Holocaust."
The fierce backlash grew into a call for action, with Mandalorian fans reportedly calling for Carano to be axed from the series. Lucasfilm, meanwhile, had also seen enough and took drastic action.
Lucasfilm finally pulled the plug on Gina Carano
After months of controversy, and just hours after #FireGinaCarano trended on Twitter, the free market decided her career when Luscasfilm fired Carano on Feb. 10, 2020. "Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," the Mandalorian production company's representative said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter), adding, "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."
"They have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and today was the final straw," tweeted THR editor Aaron Couch. Deadline also confirmed that Carano and her talent agency UTA "part[ed] ways," and her relationship with PR firm ID ended in the fall of 2020 "due to her social media activity." Carano response, as of this writing? An Instagram photo of herself lying on a couch on with the caption, "This is going to be fun." Sure, but for who?
The usual suspects came to Carano's defense, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who he tweeted, "Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe: not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi. She played a woman who kicked a** & who girls looked up to. She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again. Of course Disney canceled her." Canceled. We guess that's one to say it. Carano's fans also started the hashtag #CancelDisneyPlus.
Gina Carano's next gig may not come as a surprise
As if almost on cue, Gina Carano announced her next project is a collaboration with the right-wing website The Daily Wire and likened those who fired her to "totalitarian mob." Just your standard right-wing stuff. "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. I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob," she said in a statement to Deadline. "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."
The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro also chimed in about this development. "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," he said in a statement obtained by Deadline. "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 cancelling those who think differently, they'll just be helping us build the Xwing to take down their Death Star."
Somewhere right now, Kevin Sorbo and Dean Cain are fighting to the death who decide who gets to play Carano's husband in her next five movies.