Disney CEO Bob Chapek has responded over the firing of The Mandalorian actor Gina Carano.
Carano played bounty hunter Cara Dune in the first two seasons of the hit Disney+ show before being axed.
Chapek was questioned about the move at the entertainment giant’s annual shareholders meeting today (March 9), according to Variety.
While he didn’t directly address Carano’s sacking, he did push back against any suggestion of an ideological bias.
“I don’t really see Disney as characterising itself as right-leaning or left-leaning,” Chapek said. He explained that Disney was interested in standing for “values that are universal” such as “decency” and “integrity” as well as in making “content that is reflective of the rich diversity of the world that we live in”.
His comments come after Bill Burr, who plays rogue bounty hunter Migs Mayfield in the Star Wars series, recently defended his former co-star Carano.
“She was an absolute sweetheart. Super-nice fucking person. And you know, whatever, somehow someone will take this video and fucking make me say something else and try to get rid of my bald action figure!” he said, referring to how Hasbro also cancelled Carano’s Cara Dune action figure.
He continued: “How do you hold up you judging somebody that harshly? I’m not talking about the hardcore shit like sexual assault and rape and stuff. I’m not talking about that. Now it’s becoming, like: ‘Hey, you made an ignorant comparison. There goes your dream.’ I look at that and say: ‘Who the fuck stands up to that?'”
Carano, meanwhile, has since landed a new movie deal with Ben Shapiro’s right-wing website The Daily Wire.
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