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Disney Says Fired ‘Mandalorian’ Actress ‘Grotesquely Trivialized the Holocaust,’ Calls for Lawsuit Dismissal
Actress Gina Carano arrives at the World Premiere Of Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ held at the El Capitan Theatre on December 16, 2019 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Photo: Image Press Agency via Reuters Connect
The Walt Disney Company filed a motion on Tuesday night to dismiss a wrongful discharge and sex discrimination lawsuit filed by actress Gina Carano, who was fired from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian for comparing the political divides in America to Nazi Germany.
Disney wants Carano’s lawsuit dismissed “on the grounds that Disney has a constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech, such that the First Amendment provides a complete defense to Carano’s claims.” The Bob Iger-led company said the actress and former mixed martial arts fighter was fired from the Star Wars-based series in 2021 because she chose “to publicly trivialize the Holocaust by comparing criticism of political conservatives to the annihilation of millions of Jewish people — notably, not ‘thousands’ — [which] was the final straw for Disney.”
“The First Amendment protects Disney’s right to protect its own speech from association with Carano’s high-profile, controversial speech,” added the company in its motion this week. “Because the state cannot impose liability on Disney for making that decision, Carano’s claims should be dismissed.”
Disney is asking for a hearing on June 12 in federal court in downtown Los Angeles before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. Disney is a defendant in the case alongside Lucasfilms and Huckleberry Industries. The entertainment giant purchased Star Wars creator George Lucas’ Lucasfilm in 2012 for just over $4 billion.
Carano starred as bounty hunter Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. In February 2021, not long after the second season of The Mandalorian finished airing on Disney+, Carano shared on social media a TikTok post that said: “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Shortly afterward, Lucasfilm, which co-produces The Mandalorian, announced Carano’s firing from the show. It said her social media posts “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” A month later, Disney’s CEO at the time, Bob Chapel, explained that Carano’s views “didn’t align with company values,” including its “values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity, and values of inclusion.”
Carano filed a lawsuit in Feb. 2024, claiming she was wrongfully fired and that her “words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist.” Her lawsuit is receiving financial support from X/Twitter and Tesla owner Musk, who offered to pay legal fees for anyone who faces alleged discrimination because of their social media activity on his social media platform.
Disney said in its motion on Tuesday that it “had enough” after seeing Carano’s social media post about Nazi Germany. The company said the actress “grotesquely trivialized the Holocaust as comparable to sharp political disagreements.”
Carano responded to Disney’s motion on Thursday.
“Disney has confirmed what has been known all along, they will fire you if you say anything they disagree with, even if they have to MISREPRESENT, MALIGN, and MISCHARACTERIZE you to do it,” she wrote in a post on X. “They are now on record letting everyone who works for them know that Disney will take any chance they get to control what you say, what you think or they will attempt to destroy your career. The First Amendment does not allow Disney to wantonly DISCRIMINATE, which is what they have done in my case and frankly have now admitted they did.”
The post Disney Says Fired ‘Mandalorian’ Actress ‘Grotesquely Trivialized the Holocaust,’ Calls for Lawsuit Dismissal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.