Conservatives have called for Disney to rehire The Mandalorian actress Gina Carano after she was fired by Lucasfilm for her "abhorrent and unacceptable" social media activity.
Carano, who played the mercenary character of Cara Dune on the popular Star Wars live-action series on Disney+, disappointed fans after she mocked transgender people and mask-wearers, and spouted false claims of a fake 2020 election.
Lucasfilm announced the MMA fighter-turned actress would no longer be a part of the Star Wars universe after Carano posted a now-deleted Instagram post comparing the treatment of modern-day Republicans by liberals to being Jewish during the holocaust.
Despite their tendency to slam "cancel culture," the far-right launched the #CancelDisneyPlus campaign, prompting conservatives like Texas Senator Ted Cruz to speak out against Disney in a bizarre rant on Twitter.
Now, fans have launched an online petition calling for Disney to rehire Carano in which they claimed "another beloved actress has been fired for speaking her mind."
The author of the petition refused to acknowledge if Carano was "right or wrong" with her political views, but conceded the actress was "a little extreme" with her social media posts.
The Change.org petition read, in part:
"I'm not going to say she was right or wrong with her views, but firing celebrities over their political views has been happening way too often, and once again, Hollywood has struck down another conservative."
"What she said may have been a little extreme, and I can even see why some people may have been offended, but her tweet was not made to incite violence or to express discrimination or hatred of any sort to any particular group."
The petition then addressed Disney:
"This petition is for the executives at Disney. Please, why can't you just leave politics out of the industry and press on? 'The Mandalorian' is a fantastic show, and Gina Carano's portrayal of Cara Dune is a joy to watch. The Mandalorian wouldn't be the same without her."
Fans of the show were asked to speak out and suggested Disney should "stop the trend of firing actors for controversial tweets."
"Rehire Gina Carano," the petition concluded. "Firing her isn't justice."
The petition was mocked on Twitter with users suggesting to replace the role of Cara Dune with their ideal choices.
petition for Lara Croft to replace gina carano as cara dune in the mandalorian https://t.co/OESxDmEsA5— Tal Croft (@Tal Croft) 1613046333.0
Petition to have Betty White replace Gina Carano as Cara Dune in S3.— Sarah - GTK (@Sarah - GTK) 1613060387.0
petition to replace Gina Carano’s character with Jar Jar Binks— Alex Estrada (@Alex Estrada) 1613021831.0
This is a formal petition to have @MRodOfficial cast in the Mandalorian. NOT as a replacement for Gina Carano, but… https://t.co/62frF2xRhd— Elias Rios (@Elias Rios) 1613017251.0
Petition to replace Gina Carano with Carrie Anne Moss https://t.co/hSx6W3qt7w— 🖤RESIST REVOLT REJECT REBEL🖤 (@🖤RESIST REVOLT REJECT REBEL🖤) 1613014670.0
Petition to have Lucy Lawless replace Gina Carano as Cara Dune.— Ryan Scott Kellar (@Ryan Scott Kellar) 1613097912.0
Petition for Katy O’Brian to take over as Cara Dune bc... yeah https://t.co/pG2hLl6bsY— Joe (@Joe) 1613166249.0
This is my official petition for @Disney and @Lucasfilm_Ltd to replace @ginacarano with @SaraRamirez in any further #Mandalorian episodes.— Rayven Rizer (@Rayven Rizer) 1613104673.0
Walt Disney: Hire Don Cheadle to replace Gina Carano as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian - Sign the Petition!… https://t.co/5Ak3Hs7g8g— Matthew Roberts (@Matthew Roberts) 1613261078.0
Petition for Disney to digitally replace Cara Dune with the new actress in all the episodes she's appeared in.— 👏👏👏👏 (@👏👏👏👏) 1613044988.0
However, it appeared the actress has already moved on.
48 hours after the announcement of her firing Carano teamed up with far-right commentator and co-founder of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro, for an unnamed movie project.
Carano said of her upcoming endeavor in which she will develop, produce and star:
"The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams — to develop and produce my own film — come true. I cried out and my prayer was answered."
"I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same."
"They can't cancel us if we don't let them."
As of this writing, the petition for Carano's rehiring garnered 38,185 signatures towards its 50,000 goal.
Prior to her firing, several petitions were created by fans urging Disney to fire the actress.