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Carano argued in the suit that she was fired in 2021 for voicing
conservative opinions on social media platforms including
Twitter, which is now owned by Musk and known as X.
"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," said the lawsuit, which was
filed in federal court in California.
She also claimed sex discrimination, arguing that male stars who
voiced opinions did not suffer any consequences.
Carano, who played warrior Cara Dune, is asking the court to
order Disney's Lucasfilm unit to reinstate her in the role and
seeks compensatory damages of up to $75,000 plus emotional
distress and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
A Disney spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk, who hurled an expletive at Disney CEO Bob Iger in
September when the company pulled advertising from X, said last
year that he would fund legal action by users who faced
retaliation from employers for comments on the platform.
"As a sign of X Corp's commitment to free speech, we're proud to
provide financial support for Gina Carano's lawsuit, empowering
her to seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the
ability to work without bullying, harassment, or
discrimination," said Joe Benarroch, X's head of business
operations.
Disney removed Carano from "The Mandalorian" over social media
posts that the company at the time called "abhorrent and
unacceptable" for "denigrating people based on their cultural
and religious identities."
"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by
their neighbors ... even by children," Carano wrote on Instagram,
according to a Variety report at the time.
Carano also came under fire for Twitter posts in which she
derided mask-wearing during the pandemic and echoed false claims
of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, himself generated a backlash
for liking an anti-Jewish post on X in September, prompting
advertisers including Disney to pause spending on the platform.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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