Gina Carano V. Disney Lawsuit: ‘The Mandalorian’ Actress Names Kathleen Kennedy, Bob Chapek, And Pedro Pascal As Potential Witnesses For Upcoming Wrongful Termination Trial
Former The Mandalorian actress Gina Carano has named a number of Disney big shots, including CEO Bob Chapek and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, as potential witnesses in her upcoming court battle with the House of Mouse.
Said big shots were made party to Carano’s wrongful termination lawsuit courtesy of a July 26th filing made by the actress’ legal team with the United States Central California District Court.
Therein summarizing the information they were currently seeking to bring to trial, Carano’s attorneys provided the Los Angeles District Judge overseeing the case, the Honorable Sherilyn Peace Garnett, with a list of witnesses they were considering calling upon to testify regarding her complaint.
These potential witnesses include:
- Survival television host Bear Grylls, who hosted the actress on an episode of his Running Wild With Bear Grylls National Geographic show, which itself was ultimately pulled by Disney after Carano was fired,
- The United Talent Agency, who represented Carano until her firing from The Mandalorian,
- PR firm ID PR, who likewise dropped Carano after she was cut from The Mandalorian,
- The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau,
- The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal, whose lack of punishment after his public insulting of American conservatives Carano is pointing to as proof that she was treated unfairly,
- Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy,
- Disney CEO Bob Chapek,
- Lucasfilm publicist Lynne Hale,
- As well as Carano herself.
Further, Carano’s attorneys also provided a preliminary list of which specific documents they are looking for either side to produce as part of the trial’s discovery process.
These requested items include:
- Carano’s social media posts,
- Communications between and/or among employees of Disney and/or their subsidiaries, contractors, or other related entities related to Carano’s social media posts,
- Carano’s contracts with Disney,
- Communications between Disney (including its employees or agents) and Carano’s former talent agency, publicist, and manager,
- Communications between Disney (including its employees or agents) and other movie/show producers concerning Carano and any damages Carano suffered as a result of lost work due to such communications,
- Documents showing plans for Rangers of the New Republic series as well as other series or movies in which Carano would have had a role,
- Documents showing compensation Carano would have earned had Disney not unlawfully terminated her promised projects including but not limited to future seasons of The Mandalorian, Rangers of the New Republic, and Star Wars films that were to include the character Cara Dune,
- Social media posts made by Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, or other similarly situated employees or actors,
- Documents related to Disney’s treatment of similarly situated male employees or actors,
- Documents or communications related to Disney’s public statements regarding Plaintiff’s termination,
- Documents or communications relating to Disney’s social media policies for employees,
- Documents or communications relating to Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and policies
- Documents or communications related to Disney’s decision to terminate or disassociate from Carano and the reasons for that decision
(Notably, this is where the meat of the trial will produce itself, as regardless of who eventually wins, the fact that Disney’s internal, uncensored discussions regarding their purported ‘values’ will be entered into public record for all to read will no doubt end up turning into a PR nightmare for the House of Mouse.)
Carano’s attorneys also informed the court that the actress currently “intends to take at least 10 depositions, including
Disney’s employees involved in the decision to terminate [her]”, as she “expects that given the nature of the case, more than the allowed ten depositions will be necessary to gain a complete picture of what occurred in her case.”
However, to this end, the actress’ team did note in their filing that Carano “anticipates that the limit on the number of depositions, but not the length of any particular deposition, may need to be modified depending on information obtained during discovery.”
In closing out their filing, Carano’s attorney ultimately proposed April 18th, 2025 as the cut-off date for the discovery process and September 29th as a potential start date for her and Disney’s in-person court trial, which they estimate will take “approximately one week” and see a total of 15-20 witnesses called to the stand – five from Disney, and between 10-15 for Carano.
For those looking for a recap of each sides’ respective arguments, the two sides’ arguments were summarized by each sides’ respective legal teams in a pair of individual case statements, both of which were included by Carano’s lawyers in the filing.
From Carano’s team:
“Gina Carano played the role of Cara Dune during the first two seasons of the Lucasfilm production of The Mandalorian. In 2020, Disney took adverse action against Carano for posts she made on her personal social media account, including her account on X (formerly Twitter) expressing her personal political opinions. Then on February 10, 2021, Lucasfilm put out a statement terminating Carano from her role due to her social media posts expressing her personal political opinions. As a result, Carano claims in Counts I and II of her Complaint that Disney violated California Labor Code §§ 1101, 1102, and 98.6 which prevents employers from threatening or discharging employees because of their political activities or beliefs, which includes the employee’s political speech.
In her social-media posts made on her own time and on her own social-media accounts, Carano expressed her personal political views, opinions, and beliefs In retaliation for Carano’s exercise of her speech rights and her political beliefs, Disney terminated Carano and are believed to have taken other actions to prevent Carano from obtaining other work in Hollywood. Additionally, because male actors were allowed to make political comments on social media without any adverse action, Carano claims in Count III of her Complaint that Disney discriminated against her on the basis of her sex in violation of California Code § 12940.”
Meanwhile, from Disney’s legion of lawyers:
“Beginning in 2018, Disney engaged Carano as a guest actor in The Mandalorian, a hit television program set within the Star Wars universe. As Carano’s own fame rose with her character’s, Carano began engaging with show fans and the public in a manner that, in Disney’s view, came to distract from and undermine Disney’s own expressive efforts. Carano repeatedly made public declarations on controversial topics including pandemic-related closure orders, vaccine mandates, the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election, and the use of pronouns to show support for transgender rights. Carano ultimately shared an online post comparing criticism of politically conservative viewpoints to the Holocaust, which was the final straw for Disney. In response, Lucasfilm issued a statement condemning her posts and clarifying that Carano was not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there were no plans for her to be in the future.”
With her litigation funded by Elon Musk, Carano responded by suing Disney under California labor laws prohibiting employers from taking adverse employment actions on the basis of an employee’s political activity. Carano alleges that Disney disassociated from her because she expressed political viewpoints Disney found objectionable. Disney contends, inter alia, that under the First Amendment, the state cannot force it to express its own artistic message through actors associated with political viewpoints Disney does not want linked to its own artistic message. Separate and apart from the First Amendment, Disney maintains that discovery will reflect that its decision to disassociate from Carano was entirely justified.”
As of writing, neither Disney nor Hon. Judge Garrett have responded to Carano’s filing.
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