G.ina Carano stated that she did not go down without a fight in her first interview since she was fired from the Disney + series The Mandalorian, accusing the company of bullying it and setting a double standard.
Carano broke her silence with her new boss Ben Shapiro as she sat down with the conservative commentator for a special Sunday episode of The Ben Shapiro Show where she claimed to have learned through social media that she had received the Star Wars franchise earlier this month.
The former MMA fighter had faced widespread reactions when she shared a post again suggesting that being conservative in 2021 was comparable to being Jewish during the Holocaust. Lucasfilm quickly cut ties with her, saying that Carano’s “social media posts belittling people based on their cultural and religious identities are repugnant and unacceptable.” Prior to that Holocaust post, Carano had also made fun of trans-use of pronouns, shared QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracies, and is an outspoken COVID skeptic who repeatedly downplays both the pandemic and the wearing of masks.
There was radio silence from Carano about her resignation until Shapiro announced she had collaborated with his conservative news and opinion site The daily thread to make a movie in which she would act. He later said he would conduct an on-camera interview to discuss her dismissal – news shared by Carano on Twitter, along with the message: “Become a member [of The Daily Wire] and receive a 25% discount on memberships with code: GINA. “
Carano came out to Disney and admitted that the writing had been on the wall since she had crisis talks with educated people last year after she was accused of being a transphobic.
“I’ve been through so much, and I’ve clearly seen so much of the bullying that is taking place now, and I’ve seen it before,” she said. “I’m not the only one who has ever been bullied by this company, and I know it so deeply.”
“I was prepared to be released anytime because I have seen this happen to so many people. I’ve seen the looks on their faces. I’ve seen the bullying that takes place and when this started … you know it’s only a matter of time. I’ve seen it happen to so many people and I thought to myself, ‘You’re coming to get me, I know you are.’ (Carano did not mention any of these supposed people.)
“Just a few weeks ago, Lucasfilm asked an artist they hire to delete my character and post another character, and he proudly announces this on Twitter, deleting my character and posting another character,” Carano added.
She also accused Disney of having a double standard, saying executives had watched [her] like a hawk, “but other people” on the same production [could] say anything they want, and there I had a problem. “
“I had a problem because I didn’t agree with the story,” added Carano. “I could share a story and turn things around in the media, but I can’t do that because it would sell a friend that I don’t really have the same views as I’m not going to sell someone just to take the attention off me. everyone is afraid of losing their job. “
I could share a story and turn things around in the media, but I can’t do that because it would sell a friend that I don’t really have the same views as but I’m not going to sell someone to take away the attention … everyone’s scared lose his job.
Lucasfilm did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Over the course of the hour-long interview, Carano said she considers herself conservative, admitting that she only recently became interested in politics and that one of Shapiro’s books had helped shape her opinion.
She only briefly touches the post that fired her, which contained a photo of a Jewish woman in her undergarments screaming as she ran away from men and young boys armed with clubs in Ukraine in 1941 during the Lviv pogroms.
“Jews were beaten in the street, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children,” read the mail from elsewhere. “Because history is being 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 because they were Jews. How is it different from hating someone because of their political views? “
Carano insisted she was not trying to make comparisons, saying she was “so inspired by the gentle spirit of the Jewish people going through the Holocaust.”
She said her sole intention was to “bring people together” and that she believed the post was “more about people tearing apart.”
When Shapiro tried to lighten the conversation and talk about her trip to Hollywood and her fitness regimen, Carano made one more effort to limit the damage.
“I want people to know that this hasn’t been easy,” she said. “I am human, I have so much to learn and grow, and I am. I understand deeply, it is as if the curtains have been drawn and I see so much. “
“Canceling may become trendy one day, but don’t think if it happens to you, it will be easy because it isn’t. It might be one of the most difficult things you have ever been through. But every day that passes, you find your legs again, and you stop feeling sorry for yourself and show up. “
“My body is still shaking,” she added. ‘It’s awful, but the thought of this happening to someone else, especially someone who doesn’t handle this the way I can handle it, no, they don’t get it. They can’t make people feel that way. “
Again, after her dismissal, Carano was immediately hired by Shapiro’s The daily thread, of which the first production is one very messy backstory.