Freedom of speech?
Then there’s Gina Carano. She should post pictures of her dogs, not liken anything to the worst thing in history. But again, to be sacked for having an opinion?
Completely agree.
Freedom of speech should be an absolute right. It’s one of the best ways for people to expose how stupid they really are.
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si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses
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Freedom of speech comes with consequences. She was dismissed because her post on facebook threatened to damage the reputation and prospects of the play she was lead actress for. She was still offered full pay and chose not to take it, but took the matter to court instead. She said she wouldn’t have played the role had she known the character is often characterized as gay.
Disney are well known for being protective over their franchises, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something in her contract on this.
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@Kopstar can you put something into a UK employment contract that stops (on pain of sacking) a person from expressing any opinion that could (in the eyes of a court) be deleterious to the employer?
Absolutely. There are many examples of a morality clause or a reputational protection clause, not least in the Premier League standard contracts. It will depend on the wording of the particular clause, the nature of the employment, and the exact remark made as to whether it would amount to a fundamental breach though, allowing the employer to terminate the contract.
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So hypothetically a radical and social media crazed vegan (who has a similarly worded contract) could be sacked by Tesco for criticising meat eaters?
Depends on the nature of the criticism. Being a meat eater isn’t in itself a protected characteristic so it would very much depend on the language being used.
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Let’s be clear what Gina Carano did. She suggested that the treatment of conservatives in America is like the holocaust. That being right wing is like what the Jews endured in Nazi Germany. That’s not just a dodgy opinion. It’s a grossly insensitive and offensive thing to say. She also mocked people wearing masks, played down the dangers of coronavirus, and repeatedly made false allegations about the US Election. She was repeatedly warned, and refused to retract her comments.
Gina Carano has the right to her opinion. And Disney have the right to fire her if they consider her opinion to be grossly offensive.
The problem here, as it always is, is that people who moan about free speech aren’t arguing for the freedom to say what they want. They want the freedom from the consequences of their free speech. They want to say what they want, but also be completely shielded from any responsibility for what they say.
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Yeah, it was a terrible analogy to try and draw…“First they came for the right-wing Conservatives…”
If only she had simply railed against the cancel-culture, she may have garnered more sympathy. I don’t agree with her views but people are very quick, particularly on social media, to try and get people fired from jobs where their personal views have little, if any, relevance - simply because they don’t agree with those views. However, by drawing the analogy she did, she definitely crossed the line into offence.
Which take us to the concept of offence. Who judges what is offensive? To be clear, she was utterly idiotic to draw that comparison. But offence is surely such a subjective thing that it can’t be used to judge. Pretty much anybody can claim to be offended by almost anything. It’s where you draw the line but again, who draws the line? Jimmy Carr does Holocaust jokes (which I hate) but he’s not been cancelled. He’s making a joke of it, not just referencing it.
The guy who actually plays the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) wasn’t sacked for calling Republicans Nazis. Quite an accusation that.
I don’t really know the full story - I’ve only read a couple of articles recently about it but there was certainly a suggestion that this wasn’t a first transgression. She had apparently tweeted controversial remarks about BLM, potentially transphobic remarks as you allude to, conspiracy theories about the stolen election etc. She was apparently warned about those instances (when there were many social media users calling for her to be fired) last year. Whether this comment alone would have seen her fired we may never know but in the context of her being asked to moderate her language online because it was seen to be damaging her employer, then fair enough really that she was fired.
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If you have a very well paid public job for a massive media company, you’re mad to rock the boat. Not tricky really.
Odd thing is I’ve also seen a lot of support for her as well.
I can’t say I’ve been following closely enough to really judge how far over whatever line was crossed.
Is it support that touches on what Mascot said? Support for her right to freedom of speech? Nobody’s denying her right to speak her mind but she hasn’t got a right to freedom of consequences.
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Lots of similar videos:
That freedom of speech but taken to the extreme that actually denies what she said / tweeted was offensive. Basically they were painting Disney as the problem here.
I’ve seen reports that she rejected requests to apologise/retract her comments. I know the Star Wars fan community is properly toxic, and would attack Disney over anything, but they are backing the wrong side on this one.
Part of me wants to read up on this but there’s also a big part of me that doesn’t want to go near it with a barge pole.
That said I then go and see stuff like this and I’m honestly confused.
What you you confused about?
I wouldn’t pay any attention to Critical Drinker. He’s pretty much a straight up misogynist
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