Disney Argues It Had a 1st Amendment Right to Fire Gina Carano
As part of their ongoing legal battle with former Star Wars star Gina Carano, The Walt Disney Company is arguing that it was simply exercising its 1st Amendment rights when it fired the actress.
With the help of Elon Musk, Carano sued Disney in February, accusing Disney and Lucasfilm of harassment and defamation after she refused to “conform” to their views on issues such as Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and election interference.
In her suit, Carano says she was fired for her cultural and religious beliefs. Meanwhile, she argues, Disney did nothing when her male costars made offensive posts directed at Republicans. Specifically, she cites Pedro Pascal’s 2017 post comparing former president Donald Trump to Hitler.
Disney Says It Has the Right to Not Associate With Carano
In their filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Disney argued that the company has a “constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech.” The company is seeking a dismissal of the suit.
In today’s filing, Disney pointed to Carano’s social media post comparing the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to what modern conservatives face as the final straw.
“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,” she wrote. “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Disney argued that Carano’s post trivialized the Holocaust by referring to “thousands of Jews” and not “millions.”
“Disney thus was entitled to protect its creative speech in the ‘Star Wars’ series from association with views Disney and many viewers (and potential viewers) considered offensive and contrary to Disney’s values,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “Carano’s presence as a prominent actor on ‘The Mandalorian’ interfered with Disney’s choice not to produce a show associated with her beliefs.”
Disney’s Argument Applies to Carano’s Claims of Sexism
In reference to Carano’s claim that she was treated differently than other male co-stars, Disney once again hid behind the 1st Amendment.
“The First Amendment protects Disney’s decision to dissociate itself from some speech but not from other, different speech,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “The First Amendment mandates deference to the speaker’s own decisions about what speech to associate with. Even if others might consider those decisions ‘internally inconsistent’. Carano thus cannot stake out a discrimination claim by alleging that Disney accorded different treatment to different statements by different actors.”
A judge has yet to rule on Disney’s filing. Should the try continue, Disney will once again find itself arguing politics in court.