Balance to the Force has been restored! Or, at least, a settlement between Gina Carano and Disney has been reached in Carano’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney. News broke late last week that the long-running litigation brought by Carano has come to an end via a confidential settlement arrangement. But how did we get here?
This is The Way That Carano’s Lawsuit Unfolded
Carano, who placed Cara Dune on The Mandalorian, filed her lawsuit in California in February 2024. (The lawsuit was funded by Elon Musk.) She alleged that she was (1) fired for making politically conservative statements on social media in violation of her political rights, and (2) her male co-stars made liberal/leftwing political statements of their own without pushback from Disney. [Read more: Would Gina Carano’s Lawsuit against Disney Succeed in SC?] South Carolina’s own political rights statute offers far less robust protection for SC employees than does California’s laws, but even in South Carolina, you cannot fire someone for exercising political rights.
Disney responded by trying to get Carano’s lawsuit dismissed in its entirety via filing a motion to dismiss in April 2024. [Read more: Carano v. Disney Wrongful termination Lawsuit Update] Disney argued that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is a complete bar to Carano’s claims, because a company cannot be compelled to work with an employee who impaired Disney’s image. In July 2024, the judge denied Disney’s motion, sending the case into the discovery process. [Read more: Court Denies Disney’s Motion to Dismiss] The court noted that these arguments are best made after the parties have completed discovery (i.e., the full exchange of documents and information relevant to the case), and not at this early stage.
Disney responded in August 2024 by seeking to have the lawsuit placed on hold while the Court of Appeals reviewed the trial court’s decision on the motion to dismiss. Disney clearly did not want to the discovery process, including depositions of key Disney employees, to take place. The trial court denied Disney’s motion and ordered discovery to proceed. [Read More: Disney Loses Latest Attempt to Stall Gina Carano’s Lawsuit] The discovery process can drag on and on, especially in large, high-profile cases like this one, and sure enough, by February 2025, the parties asked the court for more time to complete discovery, including depositions. They also requested that the trial be moved into early 2026. [Read more: In Gina Carano v. Disney, the Parties Seek More Time Before Trial] The court granted the motion.
However, in April 2025, Carano filed a motion asking the court to order Disney to produce information that Disney was withholding from production, including salary information for the other actors. Carano sought the salary information as relevant to her claims for monetary damages caused by Disney’s decision to terminate her employment. The judge agreed and ordered Disney to produce a great deal of information that Disney clearly did not want to be publicly disclosed. [Read more: Disney Ordered to Produce Salary Information for Star Wars Actors in Carano Lawsuit] The next step in the case would the depositions of key Disney management, including Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, and Bear Grylls.
Not surprisingly, that’s when Disney called it quits.
What Are the Terms of the Settlement?
We don’t actually know the terms of settlement. The resolution between the parties is confidential, meaning that only Disney and Carano know what the final terms of the agreement would be. What we do have are the public statements of Disney and of Carano, which no doubt are the result of careful negotiation between the parties as to what can be said. Disney, for its part, said that “[w]ith this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future. We have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.”
A bunch of fluff, as you can see. It’s highly unlikely that Carano will ever work with Disney again. Carano offered the following platitudes on X/Twitter:
I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved. I hope this brings some healing to the force.
I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk, a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit.
Thank you Mr. Musk and X for backing my case and asking for nothing in return.
To my lawyers at Schaerr|Jaffe who walked me through this unknown territory, thank you for your wisdom and guidance.
I am humbled and grateful to God for His love and grace in this outcome.
I’d like to thank you all for your unrelenting support throughout my life and career, you’ve been the heartbeat that has kept my story alive. I hope to make you proud.
I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me.
Yes, I’m smiling.
Obviously everyone is curious about the terms of the agreement, especially whether any money changed hands. If I had to guess, I’d say that Disney paid at least a few million dollars to get it resolved, although how much is not something Disney wants anyone to know. I sincerely doubt that Disney’s comment about looking for chances to work with Carano again are anything other than lawyerly-drafted non-substance. Carano’s career took a nosedive after her termination from The Mandalorian, and it remains to be seen whether she will ever recover.
The Real Question: How Does this Impact Me, Your Humble South Carolina Law Blogger?
Well, I’m glad you asked. I’ve enjoyed writing about the case over the last 18 months because it was a nice intersection between Star Wars and employment law, and I’ll be honest, that kind of intersection is almost as rare as making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. Without further legal wrangling to report on, I’m left with following the last Trump-based attacks on the EEOC and other federal agencies, and I can scarcely keep up with all those.
I would have liked to see the constitutional issues fleshed out and argued further on the question of wrongful termination and the First Amendment. Without depositions and all the following motions to be filed (and a trial at the end), we’re left hanging like Luke Skywalker at the bottom of Cloud City at the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
But I’m not surprised. Disney and Carano/Musk likely spent many millions of dollars in paying their attorneys already, and that expense and disruption would only get worse as the case heated up. It’s fairly common for lawsuits to settle at this stage of litigation, and in fact, more than 95% of cases settle or are dismissed without going to trial at all.
So we close the chapter on this episode of Star Wars legal drama. And until Padme Amidala finally brings her lawsuit against Anakin Skywalker for sexual harassment, I guess I’ll go back to writing about something else for a while. [Read more: #R2MeToo: Anakin’s Sexual Harassment of Padme Amidala]
Padme, if you see this: call me.
