Although initially viewed with cautious optimism, “Star Wars” fans were quickly won over when the spinoff series “The Mandalorian” premiered on Disney+ in 2019. Their reception was not only because of the main character (Pedro Pascal), but because of the company he kept in two seasons of the show. One of his standout comrades is Cara Dune, a Rebel commando-turned-mercenary portrayed by actress-model-MMA fighter Gina Carano. On screen her character was considered a positive feminist role model. In real life however, her actress’ social media opinions have made her an embarrassment to Lucasfilm, which ultimately axed her from the series.

Variety tells us that as of the evening of Wednesday, February 10, Lucasfilm has fired Gina Carano from her supporting role in “The Mandalorian.” Her character of Cara Dune will therefore not return for a third season. A statement released by a studio spokesperson at the time confirmed that she is no longer employed by Lucasfilm for the series. The reason for this is, as the statement explains, “Her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” This came in the wake of Carano’s post on Instagram Stories this Tuesday, February 9.

In said IS post, the actress made unflattering comparisons between the current political climate in the US post-2020 elections, to the time period in Nazi Germany before and during World War II, and how the Nazis encouraged Germans to become increasingly hostile to Jews. The following day Twitter saw the hash tag #FireGinaCarano start trending; and before Wednesday came to an end Lucasfilm did so.

This was not the first time social media comments by Gina Carano caught online flak. Last year she disparaged people who wore masks during the worst of the COVID pandemic, made fun of people who used “preferred pronouns,” and even alleged voter fraud in the recent US presidential elections. There is speculation that the popularity of her Cara Dune character in “The Mandalorian” has led to a proposal of another spinoff that stars her, only for her controversies to spur Lucasfilm into dismissing the idea.

Carano first came to celebrity prominence in mixed martial arts, before going into modeling and acting in film and television. Her cinematic credits include “Fast & Furious 6” (2013) and “Deadpool” (2016), while in the small screen she was the Gladiator Crush in the 2008 reboot of physical competition show “American Gladiators.” She was represented by United Talent Agency (UTA), which also dropped her like Lucasfilm did following the controversy.

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