Bill Burr thinks Gina Carano's point was proved by liberals when she was fired from the TV show The Mandalorian for comments she made.
Carano starred in two seasons of the Disney+ Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian, but in 2021 Disney and Lucasfilm distanced themselves from her due to comments she made comparing being a Republican with being Jewish in Nazi Germany.
Burr, who has also starred in The Mandalorian, has now spoken out in support of the actress and MMA fighter Carano.
During a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Burr reflected on working with Carano, whom he called a "cool person," and how he thought the situation was so unfair on her.
"I thought it was funny that the liberals proved her point. They just use outrage because they don't like your politics," Burr said.
"As someone who considers himself liberal, it's disappointing to see the left become how the right used to be when they went after the Dixie Chicks after they criticized George W. Bush.
"There's not a lot of people like that—most are just trying not to get in trouble. But there's this small collection of lunatics—either on the right or the left, at any given moment—that cause hysteria.
"And now there's so many [media outlets] that want eyeballs, they make money off advertising, that they give attention to these crazy fringe people."
Lucasfilm announced in 2021 that Carano would not appear in future Star Wars projects due to a number of social media posts she wrote.
In a since deleted post, Carano wrote that "hating someone for their political views" in the United States was similar to the treatment of Jewish people leading up to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
Carano had also faced backlash for posting several posts online supporting Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, she supported his claims of voter fraud, and she also mocked people for wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The whole thing with Gina: You can't chime in when the shit's happening, because then you cause static for other people on the [show]," Burr said.
He continued: "That somebody's opinion—or their political beliefs—makes people try to destroy their ability to make a living, it's f****** bizarre to me."
Burr went on to describe his anger at cancel culture and instances where peoples controversial tweets from eight years ago are brought up, "nobody says, 'You had to go back eight years to find something?! Sounds like this is a pretty good person if you had to go back eight f******* years!"
Burr's comments were discussed by readers on Reddit, who generally disagreed with his take that it was "unfair" on Carano.
Reddit user @HatingSince87 said while they like Burr, they wanted to clarify that "his costar wasn't fired for some of her views, she was fired for belittling an entire people by equating a genocide to people not agreeing with her point of view on certain subjects."
Another Reddit user @Dani3po also disagreed with Burr, stating this is how Disney works and the situation isn't unusual.
"It is not bizarre for me. If you work for Disney, you have to keep a clean public figure. And she wasn't exactly a star. Roseanne Barr was the main character of the most watched show of the season and was fired 12h after she wrote an inappropriate tweet."
Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian are available to watch on Disney+ now. Season 3 is expected to return in late 2022.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
