The long-running legal saga between actress Gina Carano and entertainment giants Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company has finally come to an end, with both sides announcing a mutual agreement to settle the lawsuit that stemmed from Carano’s high-profile firing from the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. The case, which has played out across headlines and social media since 2021, has stirred debate about free speech, workplace discrimination, and the ever-evolving boundaries of acceptable public discourse in Hollywood.
On August 7, 2025, Lucasfilm and Disney confirmed that they had resolved the issues in Carano’s pending lawsuit. As reported by Variety, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm said, “The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect. With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”
Carano, a former mixed martial arts fighter who played the tough-as-nails Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, was dropped from the Star Wars franchise in 2021. The firing came after a series of controversial social media posts, including one that compared being a Republican in the United States to being Jewish during the Holocaust. In one widely cited Instagram post, Carano wrote, “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?”
Lucasfilm responded at the time by stating that Carano’s posts were “abhorrent and unacceptable,” specifically condemning her for “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities.” The company added, “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future.” The controversy quickly escalated, with Carano also facing criticism for mocking COVID-19 mask mandates and echoing false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, according to The Hollywood Reporter and BBC.
Feeling unfairly targeted, Carano filed suit in California federal court in 2024, alleging wrongful termination and discrimination. She sought at least $75,000 in damages and a court order that would force Lucasfilm to recast her in the franchise. Her complaint claimed that she was fired for voicing right-wing opinions and that male co-stars who made similarly controversial posts faced no repercussions. Carano’s lawsuit also alleged harassment and defamation by Disney and Lucasfilm for refusing to conform to the companies’ viewpoints on issues such as Black Lives Matter, preferred pronouns, and election interference.
The legal battle took a dramatic turn when Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), Tesla, and SpaceX, stepped in. In 2023, Musk publicly pledged to cover legal costs for individuals fired over their activity on X. True to his word, Musk funded Carano’s lawsuit, a gesture Carano later described as a “Good Samaritan deed.” In her statement after the settlement, Carano wrote, “I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk, a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit. Thank you Mr. Musk and @X for backing my case and asking for nothing in return.”
Disney’s legal team, for its part, argued in April 2024 that the company had a First Amendment right to dissociate its artistic expression from Carano’s public statements. They contended that “a constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech” was at stake. Carano fiercely pushed back, posting on X, “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. 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. Glad we cleared that up. 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 settlement’s details remain confidential, but the agreement brings to a close a case that had been scheduled for trial in Los Angeles in February 2026. Both sides now appear to be seeking a path forward. Lucasfilm’s post-settlement statement notably praised Carano’s professionalism, stating, “Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.” The company’s willingness to consider future collaborations marks a striking shift from its earlier position in 2021, when it declared there were “no plans” for Carano to return.
Carano, for her part, sounded a note of optimism and gratitude in her public response. “I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved. I hope this brings some healing to the force,” she wrote. “I am humbled and grateful to God for His love and grace in this outcome. I’d like to thank you all for your unrelenting support throughout my life and career, you’ve been the heartbeat that has kept my story alive. I hope to make you proud. I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me. Yes, I’m smiling.”
Throughout the lawsuit, Carano maintained that her termination was the result of standing up to what she called an “online bully mob” and refusing to comply with what she described as “extreme progressive ideology.” The complaint also noted that Carano was paid $25,000 per episode as a guest actor, later negotiating a $5,000 bonus, and that she was dropped by her talent agency, UTA, after the controversy erupted. Furthermore, Carano claimed she was terminated shortly after declining to meet with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and 45 employees who identify as LGBTQ+, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Potential witnesses in the now-resolved case included high-profile figures such as Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau, Bear Grylls, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, and Lynne Hale, the engineer of the publicity campaign behind Star Wars. The case’s dismissal with prejudice means it cannot be refiled, bringing finality to a dispute that has fueled passionate arguments on both sides of the political and cultural spectrum.
As the dust settles, the Carano-Disney settlement stands as a rare example of a high-profile Hollywood employment dispute ending not with a public trial or permanent estrangement, but with mutual praise and the possibility of future collaboration. Whether Carano will return to the Star Wars universe remains to be seen, but for now, both parties seem eager to move forward, and Carano herself is “excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter.”
