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Disney CEO Asked About Gina Carano Firing, Says Company Isn’t ‘Left-Leaning Or Right Leaning’

   DailyWire.com
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 19: Actor Gina Carano of Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian" at the Disney+ Global Press Day on October 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. "The Mandalorian" series will stream exclusively on Disney+ when the service launches on November 12. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney via Getty Images

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek seemed to reference the recent firing of Mandalorian star Gina Carano in response to a question during a shareholders meeting on Tuesday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter,

Asked by a caller during the Q&A portion if Disney had a “black list,” insinuating Carano, by name, was targeted for her conservative politics, Chapek responded that he does not see Disney as “left-leaning or right-leaning” and that Disney stands “for values that are universal: Values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity and values of inclusion. And we seek to have the content that we make reflective of the rich diversity of the world we live in. And I think that’s a world we should all live in harmony and peace.” 

Carano was dropped from the Disney+ series, “The Mandalorian,” after posting a tweet that referenced the Holocaust. Carano struck a deal shortly after to produce and star in a film with “The Daily Wire.”
On Ben Shapiro’s “Sunday Special,” Carano said that she found out about her firing from the internet.

“How I found out was that I looked on the internet, and you know, you check your Twitter and I’m trending and the ‘fire Gina Carano’ hashtag worked,” she said.

Lucasfilm confirmed it was letting Carano go in a statement at the time, 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.”

According to reports on the subject, Lucasfilm had been looking for a way to fire Carano for months before the incident took place because of her conservative views and past twitter posts.

After her firing, many drew attention to the difference between the treatment of the former WMMA star and her co-star, Pedro Pascal. Pascal posted a comparison between alleged present-day America and the Holocaust on Twitter, albeit with a caption that read “America, 2018” on a photo that was not taken in America in 2018.

The abrupt firing and harsh treatment of Carano hasn’t appeared to hurt her numbers and popularity. According to a report by The Daily Wire, “Between the period of February 7 to February 13 — with Carano being fired on February 10th and announcing her partnership with The Daily Wire on February 12th — Google Trends indicated that interest in Gina Carano beat out “The Mandalorian,” with searches for Carano occurring more than three times as often as the Disney+ show.

“The same was true of Disney, with searches for Carano occurring almost 80% more often. Wandavision, the latest hit show on Disney+ lauded by many critics, was beaten by Carano by over 20%. After Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian, faced criticism for his past tweets comparing border control policies to the Holocaust, Carano was ten times more popular online in terms of searches.”

Carano released a statement after signing onto a partnership with The Daily Wire, saying, “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…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.”

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