'Mandalorian' star Bill Burr calls Gina Carano an 'absolute sweetheart' after her firing
Ever since Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian over "abhorrent" social media posts that compared being a conservative in Hollywood to being Jewish in Nazi Germany, her former collaborators on the hit Disney+ show have largely declined to comment on the circumstances behind her controversial departure. Now, Bill Burr has become one of the first cast members to directly address the situation.
On a recent episode of The Bill Bert Podcast — anchored by Burr and Bert Kreischer, and featuring Joe DeRosa as a guest — the famously outspoken comedian described Carano as an "absolute sweetheart" when they worked together on a Season 2 episode of the series.
"I’m on that f****** show. Now, I gotta watch what the f*** I say," said Burr, who plays wisecracking mercenary, Migs Mayfield, who fought alongside Carano's Cara Dune in the action-packed installment, "The Believer."
"She was an absolute sweetheart. Super nice f****** person. And you know, whatever, somehow someone will take this video and f****** make me say something else and try to get rid of my bald action figure!" he said. (Hasbro ceased production of its Cara Dune action figure after Carano's firing. Migs Mayfield has not yet appeared in action figure form.)
"How it is out there, it's f****** crazy time. There's people waiting, just laying in the weeds," Burr continued, suggesting that there's a "cancel culture" industry addicted to celebrity takedowns. "Let's show that he's human, and he's made a mistake in his past and take that dream away."
Burr asked, "How do you hold up you judging somebody that harshly? I'm not talking about the hardcore s*** like sexual assault and rape and stuff. I'm not talking about that. Now it's becoming, like, 'Hey you made an ignorant comparison. There goes your dream.' I look at that and say 'Who the f*** stands up to that?'"
Burr is no stranger to courting controversy with his take on cancel culture: When he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time last October, his blistering monologue took aim at "white women" highjacking the fight for racial equity and ridiculed younger people for canceling long-dead stars like John Wayne. His divisive appearance drew both applause and condemnation on social media, with one person asking: "How did you manage to be sexist, racist, AND homophobic in under 5 minutes?"
While discussing Carano's firing on The Bill Bert Podcast, Burr and Kreischer reflected on whether future generations will look back on this period in history and regret the way some of these celebrities were treated at the time — noting that previously "canceled" people like George W. Bush and Pee-wee Herman have had their reputations rehabilitated. And while both hosts and their guest made it clear that they didn't agree with the content of Carano's social media posts, DeRosa echoed the actress's comments about there being a "double standard" when it comes to expressing political beliefs in Hollywood.
"I get what she was trying to say. Obviously, any comparison to anything with the Holocaust is a shoddy comparison... it's a dumb thing do, I'm not disagreeing with any of that," DeRosa said. "However, how is it any different from all the people on the left when Trump got elected and they said, 'He's like Hitler.' How is that any different?" Burr gave his guest a verbal thumbs up. "Joe DeRosa with an interesting take. Look at you!"
Unlike Carano, Burr may still return to The Mandalorian when shooting on Season 3 starts later this year. But the podcast revealed that his co-star's fate is still weighing on his mind. "It's a weird time," Burr said of Carano. "Unless she did some truly horrible s***... or [said] overtly racist s***. If you make a bad comparison... it's just ignorant... I think there's just too many channels."
The Mandalorian is currently streaming on Disney+.
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