Former MMA fighter Star Wars: The Mandalorian actor Gina Carano is trending on social media once again for reasons other than her acting or fighting. The official Star Wars Twitter account recently released a statement showing support for Krystina Arielle, the new host of The High Republic Show, due to targeted harassment. This statement prompted comments from several people either showing support or criticizing Carano.
“Our Star Wars community is one of hope and inclusivity. We do not stand for bullying and racism. We support [Krystina Arielle]” the Star Wars account tweeted on Friday. Several people responded and took very different approaches to the conversation. Some said, “That’s awesome! Now fire Gina Carano.” Others said that Carano had “been bullied for things she never said” and alleged that the company was “picking favorites” among employees.
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For context, news recently surfaced that Arielle had been tapped to host The High Republic Show, an upcoming bi-monthly web series. She will take part in deep discussions with the creators behind Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative. When the company hired Arielle, several old tweets resurfaced in which she condemned racism in America and made comments about “two White men discussing racism they will never experience” during the presidential debates.
These tweets and arguments about whether Arielle is racist against White people led to targeted harassment on social media. Several people sent her DMs on social media, calling her racial slurs. Others accused Arielle of being racist against White people. One, in particular, said that Arielle only got the hosting job due to Disney filling a “race-based quota.”
In November, Carano began trending due to tweets that she liked and posts that she made on social media. One example was a post about the 2020 Presidential Election. “We need to clean up the election process so we are not left feeling the way we do today. Put laws in place that protect us against voter fraud. Investigate every state. Film the counting. Flush out the fake votes. Require ID. Make Voter Fraud end in 2020. Fix the system,” she tweeted.
The MMA-fighter-turned-actor had been vocal about various topics, including COVID-19 and politics. She liked a tweet saying that “you are more likely to be assaulted for being a Trump supporter than for your race” in America and become one of the many people joining the Parler social media site. Carano also posted a mock news story saying that Democratic government leaders want Americans to wear blindfolds along with their masks so they “can’t see what’s really going on.”
With her name surfacing once again, old arguments began anew. People on one side of the debate called for Carano to lose her job on Star Wars: The Mandalorian due to her political views and social media profiles. Those on the other side said that she should remain employed despite having different opinions.
