Last week Rosario Dawson shocked and awed audiences when she made her first appearance on The Mandalorian as the beloved Clone Wars character, Ahsoka. While the actress received widespread praise for her uncanny physical embodiment of the character, others took serious issue with the casting choice. Since the episode has aired, fans of The Mandalorian have been divided over Dawson’s casting with some calling for her removal while others fiercely defended the casting choice. But what exactly is the controversy over? According to reports, a lawsuit has been filed against Dawson and her family regarding “anti-trans bias” The suit, which was filed back in October, alleges that Dawson song with three other of her family members violated the civil rights of a former family friend by discriminating against them based on their transgender status. According to the plaintiff, Dedrek Finley, he was set to take on a job for Dawson of renovating and remodeling her home. Then later when Mr. Finley moved into a North Hollywood home rented by the Dawson family, the reveal of his transgender status allegedly resulted in the family verbally and physically assaulted him.
While Dawson has largely remained silent about the lawsuit, the increasing backlash from her appearance on The Mandalorian has encouraged the actress to speak up about the controversy. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she opened up about the incident, stating:
“Well, firstly, I just want to say I understand…why people were concerned, and are concerned. I would be, too, if I heard some of those claims. But I mean, as we’re seeing right now in these past months, and just recently actually, the truth is coming out. Every single claim of discrimination has been dismissed by the person who made them, and as you’ve said, the fact that this is coming from someone I’ve known since I was a teenager, the better part of my life, and who my family was trying to help as we have many times in the past, it really just makes me sad. But I still have a great empathy for him.”
However, many fans are less than thrilled that the actress remains a part of the Star Wars franchise and she’s not the only one. Recently, fans launched a #FireGinaCarano hashtag, which trended on Twitter after a series of her conservative tweets went viral. Unlike Dawson, Carano has feuded with fans in the past over her silence in the midst of last summer’s BLM protests. While Disney had made no indication that they will be firing either woman, this growing trend of fan upsets is hard to ignore.
