Dana White is defending Gina Carano.
The former MMA star who became an actress made headlines this week when she was fired from Disney’s The Mandalorian as well as Lucasfilm, the studio that produces the popular Star Wars spin off. Carano’s ax came after the 38-year-old man received public criticism for a series of story posts on Instagram that included pictures wearing masks as a safety precaution for COVID-19 and an anti-conservative feeling.
Carano apparently addressed the latter issue with a post that compared what she perceived to be the plight of persecuted conservatives with the defamation of Jews during the Holocaust era.
The deleted post is as follows:
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers, but by their neighbors … even by children. As the story is edited, most people today do not realize that, to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily arrest thousands of Jews, the government first caused its own neighbors to hate them simply because they were Jews. How different this is from hating someone for their political opinions. “
This was not the first time that Carano took an aggressive stance with his political views (she also propagated unfounded QAnon conspiracy theories), but this time the reaction that followed led to her being removed from a leading role as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian.
A Lucasilm statement condemned Carano’s statements as “abominable” and “unacceptable”. His representation at the United Talent Agency also separated from her.
Speaking to reporters on Friday after UFC 258’s official weigh-in and staredowns, UFC President Dana White left a brief message of support to the ex-fighter when asked about the controversy.
“Leave Gina alone,” said White. “Listen, we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. “
The relationship between White and Carano has been icy in the past, with White publicly expressing his frustration at trying to set up a fight in the UFC between the then bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Carano in 2014. White referred to Carano as “the most difficult human being we’ve already dealt with ”in relation to the negotiations.
In 2019, Carano revealed in an interview that White’s profane texts and his lack of professionalism were a major factor in his decision not to sign with the UFC.
“Dana was out there talking about me and talking about my name and telling people that he was going to hire me and that I don’t even have a team yet,” said Carano. “And I thought, that’s not what we discussed. You should give me at least six months to find a team. Then he started trying to exert pressure through the media. It was a drag because I told him in a text message that this was not what we had talked about. I need time and now I’m going to join a gym and people know what I’m doing and I need to build trust and find people.
“So, he kept doing it and kept doing it and I’m still looking for a team and feeling all that pressure. Then he sent me a text message that said, ‘This b * tch is deceiving us’ or something.
“So I sent a text message back and said, ‘I think you sent this to the wrong person’ and he said, ‘I don’t think so’ and that was the last conversation we had by text message because I don’t think this it was the kind of environment I wanted to go back to. So, I just cut off all communication after that text. “
Carano is widely considered one of the pioneers of female MMA. She competed from 2006 to 2009, a period that saw her compete in several high profile matches that were broadcast on cable television, a rarity at the time. The final fight of his career, a defeat for Cris Cyborg on August 15, 2009, attracted 576,000 viewers on Showtime.
The day after news of his departure from Disney and Lucasfilm, Carano announced that he is working with conservative analyst Ben Shapiro to produce a film through his website The Daily Wire.
“I am sending a direct message of hope to everyone who lives in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian crowd,” said Carano. “I just started using my voice, which is now more free than ever, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They cannot cancel us if we don’t allow it. “