After months of controversy over her offensive social media posts, giving rise to the #FireGinaCarano campaign, The Mandalorian star Gina Carano has been removed from the Star Wars franchise. Following the actress’ latest alarming posts, including one that compared being a Republican to being Jewish during the Holocaust, Lucasfilm has officially parted ways with the former MMA fighter.
Confirming what’s previously leaked about the situation, The Hollywood Reporter has shared that the studio has been on the verge of giving Carano the boot for a while now. “They have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and today was the final straw,” THR’s source revealed. What’s more, the trade confirms that the rumored Cara Dune spinoff that was supposed to go ahead was cancelled late last year in the wake of the backlash against its intended star.
THR writes that the original plan was for the Cara show to be unveiled during December’s big Disney Investor Day presentation, along with the raft of other Star Wars Disney Plus series that are on the way. However, those plans were scrapped along with the spinoff itself when Carano started to become a liability. Rangers of the New Republic, which seemed like a good fit for the character, was still announced but obviously won’t feature her now.
Following Lucasfilm severing ties with the actress, Carano was also dropped by her talent agency UTA, so it’s unclear where the star’s career in Hollywood goes from here. Prior to The Mandalorian, Gina Carano had landed roles in major projects such as Deadpool and Fast & Furious 6, and joining the Star Wars universe only boosted her fame but, unfortunately for her, also increased the scrutiny on her social media behavior. Neither Carano nor her reps have yet to respond to the situation online or to the press, but we imagine they will soon.
