The shifting of the Overton Window? A sociological correction? Something is happening out there in the real world, and it is bleeding through into the world of movies and entertainment. Whatever happened to politics being downstream of culture? In another sign of a general mood swing, Disney and Lucasfilm have settled the lawsuit they were facing from Gina Carano.
The basis of the suit was that Carano had been discriminated against for expressing right-wing opinions on social media. The central argument, which Disney and Lucasfilm seemed to be unable to disprove, was that other talent had been allowed to continue to express political opinions online as long as they were seemingly the “correct” opinions shared with management.
This had led to her termination from several projects – a termination her team held was unlawful.
After a war of words fought via press releases, Elon Musk stepped in to help fund the lawsuit following his online promise to fund legal challenges as a result of opinions expressed on Twitter / X.
Carano was also dropped by her agency, UTA, following the controversy.
The terms of the settlement have not been revealed, but the Lucasfilm statement admitted defeat:
“With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future… 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.
Carano issued her own statement saying this was the best outcome for all parties involved and expressing her desire to get on with her job.
