The hashtag #FireGinaCarano started trending on social media after The Mandalorian star posted several controversial tweets.Since the beginning of the month, actress Gina Carano has been posting tweets that discourage mask-wearing and suggest potential voter fraud during the 2020 Presidential Election. The tweets did not sit well with some Mandalorian fans who ultimately started a petition for Disney+ to replace Carano as Cara Dune in the streaming service's flagship series, The Mandalorian.
The social media outcry only intensified after Disney+ released "Chapter 12" of The Mandalorian on Friday. The episode stars Carano and is her first appearance in Season 2. Carano also added fuel to the fire by announcing that she moved to the Parler social media app, which was started by right-wing investor Rebekah Mercer as a platform for uncensored free speech. However, the unbiased, uncensored nature of the app has also attracted controversial figures such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.
This is not the first time fans have called for Disney+ to fire Carano. Back in September, the actress was under siege for posting an image of Nazi soldiers that fans viewed as racist. She also changed her Twitter profile to add "beep/bop/boop" next to her name, in lieu of pronouns. Some fans were angered by the move, calling it a mockery of trans people.
However, not every Mandalorian fan is behind the #FireGinaCarano movement. Others who support the actress have started a counter-hashtag, #StandWithGinaCarano. These fans believe that the petition to replace Carano in the Disney+ series is an example of cancel culture and censorship going too far beyond its limits. To them, it ultimately verifies many of the things Carano is fighting against.
Disney has not commented on the backlash or the petition. However, the company is not known to shy away from controversy. In 2018, Disney replaced Rachel Butera, the voice of Leia Organa in the animated Star Wars Resistance, after fans did not agree with her mockery of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. New episodes arrive Fridays on Disney+.