by Elon Musk upset the Walt Disney Company again on Tuesday by agreeing to fund a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by “Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano.
“Let us know if you want to join the lawsuit against Disney,” Musk wrote, apparently seeking out other plaintiffs, in a post on X, which he purchased in 2022.
Disney removed Ms. Carano, a former mixed martial arts artist, from “The Mandalorian” in 2021 after she embraced baseless conspiracy theories and right-wing positions, some of which were seen as homophobic and anti-Semitic, in a series of posts on social media. Her character was eliminated from the series. Lucasfilm, the Disney division that produces “The Mandalorian,” said in a statement at the time that Carano’s “social media posts that denigrate people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
United Talent Agency too dropped Ms. Carano.
Carano’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in California, seeks a court order forcing Disney and Lucasfilm to weave her “Mandalorian” character back into episodes and recast her for the role. (Employed as a “guest actor,” she was paid $25,000 for each episode in which he appeared.) He is also suing for punitive damages.
Musk has been hitting Disney and its CEO, Robert A. Iger, since Disney and other major X advertisers, including Apple, suspended spending on the platform in mid-November. Advertisers took action after Musk endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. He seemed especially angry about Disney’s decision to pull the ads; Other Hollywood companies, in particular, followed Disney’s lead.
In internal X documents, which were seen by The New York Times, sales employees were notified that Disney continued to pause advertising on the platform “globally” and “indefinitely.”
Disney spokespeople did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment for this article.
In late November, Musk verbally attacked Iger from the stage of the New York Times DealBook Summit. (Citing Disney’s ad withdrawal, which Musk called “blackmail,” the billionaire used an insult to tell Iger to leave.) In December, after Disney stood firm, Musk wrote in X that Iger “should be fired”, adding that “Walt Disney is rolling in his grave because of what Bob has done to his company.”
More recently, Musk has applauded Nelson Peltz, an activist investor who, with the disgruntled former president of Marvel Entertainment, is waging a proxy battle to win two seats on Disney’s board of directors.
“Brutal history,” Musk wrote on “The @Disney board of directors has served shareholders incredibly poorly!”
Disney has vigorously defended its board of directors, along with Iger’s record. Iger, who came out of retirement in 2022 to take back the reins at Disney, has slashed costs, accelerated growth at Disney parks and reorganized the company to improve movie quality, among other efforts.
When asked about the extent of Peltz’s relationship with Musk, a Trian spokesperson did not immediately comment. Mr. Peltz and Mr. Musk were photographed together Saturday at the Los Angeles premiere of “Lola,” an independent film that one of Peltz’s daughters wrote, directed and starred in.
The Chief of Commercial Operations of X, Joe Benarroch, said in a statement that the Musk company was “proud to provide financial support to the demand for Gina Carano, training her to seek the claim of her rights of freedom of expression in X and her ability to work without intimidation. harassment or discrimination.”
Last year, Musk promised to fund legal action for X users who said they were discriminated against at work because of their posts on the platform. At the time, he said he would “also go after the boards of directors of the companies.”
Ms. Carano’s lawsuit said: “A short time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, the defendants made it clear that only one orthodoxy in thought, speech or action was acceptable in their empire, and that those who dared to question or not fully enforce it would not be tolerated. And the same thing happened with Carano.”
Laura Hirsch and ryan mac contributed reports.
