Surely the biggest pop culture story of last week was the firing of actress Gina Carano off the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” after she shared a social media post that was deemed anti-semitic and offensive. She was dropped by talent agency UTA and by Lucasfilm, but then later announced that she was now at work on a new project being developed and produced with conservative website The Daily Wire.
As this story has dominated the conversation, it was inevitable that Carano would pop up somehow in this weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” hosted by “One Night in Miami” Oscar contender Regina King. That reference came in the form of a “Weekend Update” bit from the segment’s co-anchor Colin Jost (opposite Michael Che).
“Yeah I don’t know if ‘Star Wars’ is the authority on what’s anti-Semitic,” he said. Then, he played a clip of Watto, the junk dealer from “The Phantom Menace,” which at the time sparked allegations of ethnic stereotype. “If that’s not Nazi propaganda, I don’t know what is,” Jost added. Watch the clip below.
The firing of Gina Carano has been met with divisive reactions on both sides of the political aisle. New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait recently penned an essay comparing Carano’s axing to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s. “The post simply argued (uncontroversially) that the Holocaust grew out of a hate campaign against Jews, which it then likened (controversially) to hatred of fellow Americans for their political views,” Chait wrote, referring to Carano’s post comparing being a conservative in the currently politic climate to Nazi Germany. “I don’t find this post especially insightful. But overheated comparisons to Nazi Germany are quite common, and, more to the point, not anti-Semitic. There is no hint anywhere in this post of sympathy for Nazis or blame for their victims.”
“I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them,” Carano said when she spoke out last week.
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