Still not clear on the “fired” point. The various headlines say “fired” but they’re all going from the following statement:
Which is a little vague.
Ultimately it doesn’ t matter whether they fired her or just ran out her contract – I mean, I’m sure if she’d been less objectionable she’d have continued to find work within Star Wars and/or the wider Disney oeuvre, but “firing” requires a different bar to clear. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have. I’m just wondering if they did.
But she was definitely dumped by her agency UTA. So there’s that.
You know who else was cautious when talking in public about the Holocaust? …
This is what I don’t get. If you’re a politician… well, really anyone speaking in front of people… WHY would you spew half-formed hateful opinions that could get you fired?
I’ve given sermons and countless lectures to college classes. And I made damn sure to keep my hatred of Donnie J. out of sight. Partly to make sure the classroom felt like a safe space, for urban and rural kids.
But also because I didn’t want to spend hours in front of some Academic Dean’s tribunal, defending why I thought it was a good idea to lead students in smashing Cheetos with a twenty pound MLK statue while singing along to Randy Rainbow videos.
I think you have a point. The brand in question is Disney. They’re unimaginably rich and, not co-incidentally, pretty unethical. I see no plausible way in which Careno’s remarks could have had any noticeable impact on their bottom line, especially since none of their other, more serious, violations have done.
I remember back in the 1990s, long before cancel culture was on anyone’s lips, Tim Allen was being interviewed and they asked him something about legalizing drugs. I can only paraphrase his response, “I have a show and a lot of people who depend on me for their livelihood. So I can’t always be honest about how I really feel about things because I’m not just risking my job I’m putting other people at risk.”
I like the Cara Dunn character and I wish she was still on the show. But I’m not exactly surprised she got canned and I can’t really hold it against Disney.
As an aside, I would read an entire book about what’s behind the radicalization of B-list and C-list entertainers who (seemingly) abruptly turn into Trump-praising dingbats. What makes them do this?
I assume some of them are just in it for a quick buck (Diamond & Silk). I assume most of the men have had a life-changing brush with (A) a sexual harassment suit, or (B) losing roles and blaming it on diversity grievances.
In Carano’s case I think it’s just the C-student’s invented pseudo-intellectual posture of “both sides are bad; I’m above it all.” I suspect most entertainers are pretty stupid and not far from falling into the same trap. I also know she’s also held a grudge against Instragram for not letting her show a nipple. She got a ton of attention for that controversy and maybe sees herself as the dumbshit representative of the free speech wars.
What it sounds like, to me, is that she was not currently under contract (though she had previously been announced to be starring in an upcoming Disney+ SW series); based on articles like the one from Hollywood Reporter, it sounds like Disney had been considering severing ties with her for months.
So, “fired” is being used a lot here, as shorthand for “you aren’t working for us anymore,” though it sounds like, technically, she was not currently employed by Disney anyway.
I have to take exception to this statement. Sure, it’s shunning, and YES they should be shunned. Because that’s my right as well! You just said that ‘people who aren’t going out of their way to be distasteful’.
OUT OF THEIR WAY??? Did you think about that? So, if my neighbor, for example, is being a righteous ass, still flying a 3’x5’ Trump flag next door, and constantly bringing up the stolen election when we’re both getting mail/putting out the trash/etc - I should turn the other cheek and listen with good grace?
Hell no. I support my neighbor’s right to have offensive opinions, and to say them in public, and I even acknowledge he believes what he is saying, and trying to support like minds. He isn’t “going out of his way to be distasteful”. But I have ever right under the sun to avoid him like the plague, and others have that right as well.
As to the firing of the actress in question and this same point. I’m Jewish and tend to go with the more traditional definitions of sin and wrong doing.
Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons (or lack of intent) is still doing the wrong thing. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still doing the RIGHT thing. In her case, she’s doing the wrong thing and you’re claiming that she is ignorant of the issues/optics. Fine, but she’s still doing the wrong thing. Her employer has a very, very expensive brand, and appear to consider her actions harmful to it, regardless of her intent.
/Rant off. Looks like that argument has been pretty thoroughly debunked as well. Because if she has months of this, and no retractions, I cannot believe other people she’s been tweeting too haven’t dismissed/corrected her claims. So yeah, that’s willful ignorance, so she’s doing the wrong thing, for the wrong reasons.
She is allowed to be conservative and spew nonsense! She hasn’t even had her Twitter or Facebook accounts closed, as far as I know. No one is stopping her from being conservative and spewing nonsense.
My guess would be an instant fan base that will support due to political beliefs and not talent, even going to point of defending showbiz downturns with accusations of “anti-right bigotry”.
Perhaps the OP is upset because Cara Dune is a really cool character and will be difficult to re-cast. I can see that POV, but I still think she should have been let go. Why these people can’t figure out not to tweet is beyond me.
I agree, but it changes the whole “OMG SHE WAS CANCELLED!” narrative. Disney have no obligation to re-contract with someone who is demonstrably bad for their brand.
Anyway, it’s too bad she wasn’t fired for her offensive views a year ago - she could have been a keynote speaker for the RNC.
I’m grateful for entertainers too, but I’m not hiring them to do my taxes or interpret the news for me. They don’t need to be smart, and many of them aren’t.
I’m reasonably new here and may have been late to the party – the party where @asahi garnered significant respect due to his keen insights into our (US) imperiled democracy.
And many of us are discussing points on a continuum here, and where we draw two major lines: what constitutes an infraction and what constitutes suitable consequences.
I tend to find it interesting to look at the law in these cases – rather as a surrogate for where society has collectively drawn that line.
This page is pretty interesting:
And they seem to be more about a worker’s rights than an employer’s.
I’m reminded of Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing, where conservatives clutched their pearls and implied that the Blasey Ford hearing was somewhere between a criminal hearing for a capital crime and a straight up witch hunt.
But it was a job interview where his liberty and career were not in jeopardy.
You knock off Mickey Mouse’s image for your T-shirt business, and Disney’s attorneys will famously come after your ass. They have a big brand and are fiercely protective of it.
Stupid has its cost. In this case, Ms. Carano’s self-inflicted wound will likely have no more effect on her welfare than if Kavanaugh hadn’t gotten the job.
I give this one to Disney, while still both understanding and respecting @asahi 's take on, and defense of, an important principle.
I will concede that ground: whether her getting terminated is fair or not, unless it’s puppy or kitten pics, it’s probably best to stay off social media.
Stupid is no excuse. Has she apologized? Has she retracted her statements? Has she shown any understanding of how stupid and offensive her remarks are?
It wasn’t. She posted offensive stuff repeatedly, was warned (presumably) by her employer not to do that again, she stayed quiet for a while and then posted more stupid stuff. At that point they severed ties with her. Seems like a normal process.