The news of Gina Carano’s lawsuit against Disney-Lucasfilm came as a shock to many.
After all, how could one person take on the vast corporate power of a massive business empire like Disney?
Apparently, with the help of a billionaire — Elon Musk — and his team of lawyers.
On Wednesday, the actress and former MMA fighter announced she was teaming up with lawyers from Elon Musk’s X to sue Disney for wrongful termination.
Today is an important day for me–I am filing a lawsuit against @lucasfilm & @Disney
After my 20 years of building a career from scratch, and during the regime of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Lucasfilm made this statement on Twitter, terminating me from The Mandalorian: “Gina…
— Gina Carano 🕯 (@ginacarano) February 6, 2024
The company had previously fired Carano from the then-hit (season three — the first season since Carano’s departure — saw a stark dip in viewership) Star Wars show “The Mandalorian” after a large number of far-left social media trolls mischaracterized a post she had made on social media, which you can read more about here.
Surprisingly, not only does the suit call for Disney to pay out damages, it also calls for the company to recast Carano as her fan-favorite character Cara Dune.
Even more surprising than that was the language of the lawsuit, which read like it was written by a witty online Disney-Star Wars troll.
Do you think Carano was wrongfully fired?
The puns start with the lawsuit’s opening sentence: “A short time ago in a galaxy not so far away, 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.
“And so it was with Carano,” the suit reads.
Kudos to the lawyers who wrote @ginacarano’s lawsuit.
The introduction is hilarious 😂
“A short time ago in a galaxy not so far away…” pic.twitter.com/ebAgwUrMBs
— Michael Austin (@mikeswriting) February 8, 2024
“…Carano was terminated from her role as swiftly as her character’s peaceful home planet of Alderaan had been destroyed by the Death Star in an earlier Star Wars film,” the suit continues, demonstrating a sharp understanding of Star Wars lore, as well.
The suit added: “Defendants’ wrath over their employees’ social media posts also differed depending on sex. Even though ‘the Force is female,’ Defendants chose to target a woman while looking the other way when it came to men.
“But the rule of law still reigns over the Defendants’ empire. And Carano has returned to demand that they be held accountable for their bullying, discriminatory, and retaliatory actions—actions that inflicted not only substantial emotional harm, but millions of dollars in lost income.”
The suit demands Disney pay $75,000 not including various costs and attorneys’ fees.
It also demands Disney rehire Carano to her former role on “The Mandalorian,” additional damages for loss of her promised leading role in the “Rangers of the New Republic” series that was promptly canceled following her firing, and damages for the emotional distress she endured because of the firing and subsequent backlash.
As creatively as the suit began, it ends on a much more ominous tone:
“Carano demands a trial by jury.”
