Over 50,000 people have signed a petition for Disney to rehire Gina Carano after she was reportedly axed from The Mandalorian after sharing offensive social media posts.
The (now-deleted) post in question saw the 38-year-old former mixed martial artist compare the Holocaust to the divisive political climate in the United States.
The post, which has been widely shared online, reads:
"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children.
"Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews.
"How is that any different from hating someone for their political views."
On February 10, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm responded to the controversy in a statement, explaining that Carano is no longer employed by the company and there are "no plans" for future employment.
According to Deadline, the statement in full reads: "Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."
Evidently, not everyone is happy with the decision to ax the actor from the Disney+ Star Wars series, in which she played Cara Dune in its first two seasons.
The Change.org petition, which has surpassed 50,000 signatures at the time of writing, reads: “I'm not going to say she was right or wrong with her views, but firing celebrities over their political views has been happening way too often, and once again, Hollywood has struck down another conservative.
“What she said may have been a little extreme, and I can even see why some people may have been offended, but her tweet was not made to incite violence or to express discrimination or hatred of any sort to any particular group.
“And now, once again, a beloved actress has been fired for speaking her mind. This petition is for the executives at Disney.
“Please, why can't you just leave politics out of the industry and press on? The Mandalorian is a fantastic show, and Gina Carano's portrayal of Cara Dune is a joy to watch. The Mandalorian wouldn't be the same without her.”
The petitioner also urged fans of the show to speak out over the “injustice” Carano has endured.
