Gina Carano’s winning streak shows little sign of stopping.
“The Mandalorian” standout got canned by Team Disney earlier this month for sharing social media messages deemed “abhorrent” and “anti-Semitic” by Lucasfilm and the mainstream press.
A quick perusal of her messages, including a warning that the current political climate was akin to the early stages of Nazi Germany, revealed nothing of the kind.
The fact that “Mandalorian” co-star Pedro Pascal shared an uglier Nazi analogy on social media without so much as a digital slap on the wrist did little to stop Carano’s “cancellation.”
The media had been egging Disney to ditch the actress for months, citing social media messages that were both unwoke and disruptive to the progressive narratives on COVID-19 and the 2020 election.
Things looked grim for Carano after the high-profile firing, especially since her representatives at UTA let the popular actress go shortly after Disney did the same.
Her fortunes changed when The Daily Wire announced it would hire her to star and produce an original film for the site’s new entertainment platform.
Since then, Carano’s popularity continues to soar.
This week, one of the web’s most dominant film sites ranked Carano as the most popular actress in Hollywood. IMDB.com’s “Star Rating” feature lets users rank the actors they care about the most at any given time.
The ranking often reflects the news cycle and the pervading pop culture sentiment. That explains why legendary actor Christopher Plummer, who died earlier this month at the age of 91, is no. 3 on the list.
The no. 1 spot belongs to Carano, though, something We Got This Covered announced Feb. 17.
The site rates celebrities’ current popularity based on their IMDb profile views every week, and typically those in the top spots are featured in the internet’s latest favorite movies or TV shows. In this case, though, the controversy surrounding Carano has launched her to #1.
Carano’s Daily Wire deal generated plenty of media coverage over the last few days, along with a petition for Disney to re-hire the actress to play Cara Dune once more on “The Mandalorian’s” third season.
Attempts to cancel Carano from the culture at large even extended to her Hasbro action figure. The toy giant stopped production on the Cara Dune figures despite the model selling briskly last year.
Even that move backfired.
Existing Cara Dune figures suddenly spiked in price on sites like eBay. Some action figures were selling for as much as $495, according to TheHill.com.
Carano recently admitted she learned about her Disney dismissal from social media, not from the mega studio directly. She’ll likely discuss that, and much more about her momentous career detour, when she sits down with Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro on the next edition of his “Sunday Special” interview showcase.
The chat will be Carano’s first, long-form conversation since being let go by Disney. Their conversation will be available on both Dailywire.com, YouTube and major podcast platforms February 21st.
Carano’s high profile dismissal revealed the obvious inconsistencies in today’s Cancel Culture. Stars who share far uglier posts on social media, like the star of “Hocus Pocus 2” Bette Midler, escape scrutiny from both Disney and entertainment reporters.
Carano’s willingness to defy progressive groupthink, even after Disney warned her not to stray from the woke playbook, reveals she’s one of the bravest stars in Hollywood’s galaxy.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.