#CancelDisneyPlus: Boycott campaign claims ‘Mandalorian’ star Gina Carano’s firing was politically motivated

No stranger to internet controversy, Carano shared a post from another user on her Instagram page on Wednesday which described how Jews were treated in Nazi Germany, as part of a broader commentary about political persecution. 

The post caused a major meltdown on social media, with #FireGinaCarano quickly trending on Twitter. Hours later, Lucasfilm, which produces ‘The Mandalorian’, said in a statement that the actress would not be returning for the show’s third season. The studio condemned Carano’s “abhorrent and unacceptable” social media posts but did not elaborate on why it was parting ways with the star. 

Social justice crusaders chalked up her firing as a victory, but the hasty decision to dump Carano may have backfired. Popular political commentator Dave Rubin reacted to the situation by announcing he would no longer subscribe to Disney+, the streaming service that broadcasts the Star Wars-based ‘Mandalorian’ series. 

“We need to stop giving these people our money and we must build new franchises,” he wrote. 

Other big names on the platform followed suit. Comedian and columnist Tim Young told 277,000 followers that Disney+ should be “canceled” because it does not tolerate free speech that offends “leftists.”

Soon #CancelDisneyPlus became the number one trend in the US, as anger over Carano’s firing grew. 

However, some pointed out that the hashtag had been hijacked by trolls, and that the phrase was trending for the wrong reasons. 

“It’s about 90% of people laughing about the tag itself,” read one comment.  

Others joked that Disney was “quaking in their boots” over the internet uprising, noting that a few thousand negative tweets can’t take down a streaming service with tens of thousands of subscribers. 

Carano’s conservative views have landed her in hot water on numerous occasions. Her controversial posts about Covid-19 and the 2020 presidential elections have triggered numerous internet campaigns calling for her to be booted off the ‘Mandalorian’.

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