Carano was fired from “The Mandalorian” last week after a controversial post on social media.
YouTube / screenshot
Certainly the biggest pop culture story of the past week was the resignation of actress Gina Carano from Disney + “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” after she shared a post on social media that was considered anti-Semitic and offensive. She was released by talent agency UTA and Lucasfilm, but later announced that she was now working on a new project being developed and produced with the conservative website The Daily Wire.
As this story dominated the conversation, it was inevitable that Carano would appear in some way in this weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live”, presented by Regina King, competing for the Oscar for “A Night in Miami”. This reference came in the form of a piece of “Weekend Update” by segment co-anchor Colin Jost (alongside Michael Che).
“Yes, I don’t know if ‘Star Wars’ is the authority over what is anti-Semitic,” he said. Then he showed a clip of Watto, the garbage dealer for “The Phantom Menace”, who at the time spawned allegations of ethnic stereotype. “If this is not Nazi propaganda, I don’t know what it is,” added Jost. Watch the clip below.
Gina Carano’s dismissal has sparked divisive reactions on both sides of the political corridor. New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait recently wrote an essay comparing Carano’s ax to the 1950s Hollywood blacklist. “The post simply argued (without controversy) that the Holocaust came out of a hate campaign against Jews, which so he compared (in a controversial way) to hatred of Americans for their political views, ”wrote Chait, referring to Carano’s post comparing the current political climate for Nazi Germany as a conservative. “I don’t find this post particularly enlightening. But exaggerated comparisons with Nazi Germany are quite common and, more specifically, are not anti-Semitic. There is no evidence anywhere in this post of sympathy for the Nazis or guilt for their victims. ”
“I am sending a direct message of hope to everyone who lives in fear of being canceled by the totalitarian crowd. I just started using my voice, which is now more free than ever, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t allow it, ”said Carano when he spoke last week.
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