“The Mandalorian” actor Gina Carano, who has drawn intense criticism for her posts on social media, said Friday she would partner with the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire on a new film project.
The announcement came two days after Lucasfilm, the Disney-owned company behind the “Star Wars” spinoff series, said it no longer employed Carano, who most recently compared “hating someone for their political views” to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust in an Instagram post.
“The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams — to develop and produce my own film — come true. I cried out and my prayer was answered,” Carano said in a statement to the Daily Wire, which was co-founded by the right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro.
“I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them,” she added.
Carano’s post about persecution, which shared an image from a different Instagram account, no longer appeared on her profile Friday. But screenshots of the post circulated widely on social media this week, fueling the #FireGinaCarano hashtag.
The actor has also provoked backlash for social media posts in which she ridiculed wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic and endorsed baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
In the fall, Carano added the phrase “beep/bop/boop” to her Twitter bio, which many critics interpreted as an insult against users who state their preferred gender pronouns.
She later appeared to deny that accusation, saying in a tweet that the phrase had “zero to do with mocking trans people” and was focused on “exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voices of many genuine causes.”
Shapiro, for his part, has also drawn criticism for comments about transgender people. In a 2016 interview, he said in part that “transgenderism is a mental disorder.” He has defended Carano’s social media posts, saying her apparent ouster from Lucasfilm was an example of a “cancel culture.”
Lucasfilm condemned her posts Wednesday, saying: “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Carano, 38, appeared on the first two seasons of “The Mandalorian” as Cara Dune, a former Rebel trooper who had become a marshall for the New Republic on the show.
The Daily Wire did not announce details about its film project with her, but the outlet’s article about the deal said she would produce and star in the project.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
