Disney CEO Chapek Bob Chapek said on Tuesday that he did not “really see Disney characterizing himself as a leftist or rightist” – responding to a shareholder who accused Hollywood and the company of having two pesos and two measures in firing Gina Carano in The Mandalorian because she is a conservative.
The shareholder, speaking during the question and answer section of Disney’s annual shareholders’ meeting, noted that controversial co-stars Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano made reference to Nazi Germany in social media comments, but only she was removed. “What about Disney’s blacklist?” he asked.
Chapek did not speak directly to the Carano incident, but said that Disney represents “values that are universal: respect, decency, integrity and inclusion and we seek to make the content reflect the rich diversity of the world in which we live. And I think this is a world in which we must all live in harmony and peace. “
The actress was released from the popular Lucasfilm and Disney series on Disney + after she adopted social media to, as Lucasfilm described, post “abominable” material that compared the current divided political climate in the United States to Nazi Germany. This made “#FireGinaCarano” a trend and, eventually, it was.
Carano raised the issue of the double standard last month in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, noting that Pascal was not fired by a 2018 tweet comparing undocumented children in cages in the U.S. to Jews in concentration camps.
Asked about Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm’s boss, Chapek said he is “absolutely thrilled” with her and that the company hopes to “have Kathy directing the activities of the entire Lucasfilm operation for many years”.