Gina Carano’s Disney Lawsuit Will Go Forward

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Gina Carano’s fight against Disney will go forward. You’ll recall that Disney and Lucasfilm fired Gina Carano, who played Cara Dune on The Mandalorian and was set to star in a spinoff series called Rangers of the New Republic, when she shared an Instagram post they went out of their way to take offense to. Carano has since sued them for wrongful termination and defamation of character, the latter because Lucasfilm released a statement calling her an anti-Semite, which Carano says has hurt her career. Elon Musk is funding Carano’s suit. In April, Disney’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that an employer has the right to decline associating with an employee’s speech.

No word on the motion has come since then… until tonight. That Park Place, having obtained the pertinent court documents, was the first to report that Disney’s motion to dismiss has been denied by the judge. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, ruled that Disney and Lucasfilm “have failed to set forth an ‘impenetrable defense’ under the First Amendment.” Moments ago, Gina Carano confirmed this report on X:

“the court DENIES defendants motion.”

I am moved to tears. After a brutal 3 1/2 years, I am being given the opportunity to move forward in the court of law before the judge and my peers to clear my name. I am so grateful for this opportunity.

What happened to me was… pic.twitter.com/q7r3MLhCEr

— Gina Carano (@ginacarano) July 25, 2024

This is great news for Gina Carano, and it’s great for people around the country who have lost their jobs over their political beliefs, of which I’m sure there are many more than Carano. How many people got fired over not wanting to get one of the COVID-19 vaccinations? As much as I agree with Carano, I think that’s an even worse violation of someone’s rights, and hopefully, this lawsuit opens the door for a legal reckoning on that score. It’s also heartening that this ruling came out of California, where you’d expect the courts to be biased towards Disney and other left-leaning (“leaning,” if we’re being generous) institutions. That suggests cases like this are likely to be heard throughout the nation rather than thrown away at the behest of the companies who ruined lives.

Meanwhile, Disney is not having a great year so far. Sure, it’s got Inside Out 2 and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine to help its box office slump (I wonder how badly it grates that they had to make a couple of woke-free movies to finally get some hits), but it’s also lost one of its largest shareholders, Ike Perlmutter, who just finished selling his $3 billion in shares of the company. Nelson Peltz did the same with his $1 billion in shares in May after losing his proxy war. Bob Iger probably sees these as positive developments, but it’s an indication that large investors are losing faith in Disney, which was also signaled when Disney’s share price dropped after Peltz lost his proxy war with Iger. There’s also The Acolyte, which, to the surprise of no people at all, had much worse ratings than were reported, meaning Star Wars is continuing to lose its viability as a franchise. As for the theme parks, Disney World’s big debut of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was a disaster, and Disneyland barely averted a strike but had to shell out more money to its employees to do so – money Disney may not have to spend.

Now, they may have to pay Gina Carano a ton of money for firing her over what they say is an Instagram post, but what Carano argues is her jokey “beep, bop, boop” pronouns, which indicated to Disney and Lucasfilm that she wouldn’t tow their sociopolitical line. It’s important not to get too hopeful, though; just because the trial will go forward doesn’t mean Carano will win. But she’s got a chance now, and that’s all a fighter like her can ask for.