Gina Carano Tells Her Side, Claiming Disney Bullying, in Interview With Ben Shapiro

There is such a thing as action and reaction. Everything we say and do will have some sort of reaction from somebody else. In the case of the saga involving Gina Carano and her choice to use her social media platforms to speak her mind (see: Disney Has Had Enough – Gina Carino Out From The Mandalorian over Social Media Activity), I’m curious how this becomes bullying?

Sure, Disney is this mega large corporation and small minor role in Mandalorian Gina Carano is s tiny fish in their great lakes of entertainment. That paints Disney as the bad guy for firing her … or rather not inviting her to star in any more episodes of The Mandalorian.

We have questioned before if actors are ever really fired when they aren’t offered future or returning roles. It’s not like Carano didn’t get paid for the work she already did. $25,000-50,000 per episode, reportedly. That’s a darn good paycheck for a limited amount of work. Most people reading this would be happy to accept that job. Give me some armor and put me in, coach, I’ll take that and you won’t hear a blip from me on social media about bullying, Nazis or jews (unless the story involves that and it’s purely promotional/marketing).

Will admit it seems like they’re going a bit too far making Hasbro stop making popular Cara Dune action figures, but this is likely because they contain Carano’s likeness don’t want to see her make any more $$ from The Mandalorian. They want to terminate all business dealings with her so as not to be seen as hypocritical over condemning her social media activity.

But is this bullying or a business decision?

Sunday night in an interview with Ben Shapiro, she’ll tell her side of the story. How she found out she was fired from The Mandalorian via the same social media she weaponized with her counter-opinions.

“I was prepared at any point to be let go, because I’ve seen this happen to so many people. I’ve seen the looks on their faces. I’ve seen the bullying that takes place, and so when this started, they point their guns at you, and you know it’s only a matter of time. I’ve seen it happen to so many people, and I just thought to myself (…) ‘you’re coming for me, I know you are.’ ” They’re making it very obvious through their employees who were coming for me, and so I was like, ‘I’m going to go down swinging and I’m going to stay true to myself.’ “

Gina Carano Talks ‘Mandalorian’ Exit & Disney In Ben Shapiro Interview – Deadline

Again, especially for those not familiar with our prior posts on this matter, we support free speech and Gina Carano can say whatever she wants on social media. Am not sure, however, she can claim she was bullied by Disney and/or the sycophants who blindly worship the house of mouse and its sometimes extreme left-leaning support structure.

Carano is right leaning, clearly, which puts her on the opposite political side. This is a conflict before any words are uttered on Twitter, Facebook, Insta, etc.

Two subjects we try and steer clear of at this site are politics and religion. That’s not to say we don’t post on either subjects, but usually only when they involve movie and TV entertainment. Live TV debates, for example, would be one area we’ve touched on (see: The Shocking, Viral Star of Last Night’s Vice Presidential Debate? The Fly!)

Not telling anybody else what they should or shouldn’t say online or elsewhere, but will state from experience being on the internet, having websites, blogs, etc, for the better part of 25+ years now, these are two red, red, red hot topics that divide people very fast. In the United States, this country politically is divided with most on either side and then there’s some folks in the middle that tend to decide elections. You have both sides trying to encourage these people at election time that their way is the best.

The problem with Gina Carano isn’t that she has opinions and her right to share them, it’s where she’s voicing them and when. There isn’t any need to voice these opinions on her social media. She’s an actor and former fighter. That’s her business. Focus on being the best at that and let the people who want to talk about politics ramble on. When she’s done in business, retired and doesn’t work any more for others, that’s the time to light up the world with her politics, if she wants. Or, hey, just become a politician and that becomes your job. Then you can go all Trump on Twitter if you want.

Look at Stephen King. Man is still working, but doesn’t need to. He got flamed pretty hard for his comments on the Texas power outages this past week. Will it cost him some readers? Probably a few, but he writes so darn good that nobody really cares if his political views are extreme. It’s not going to cost him movies being adapted, because Hollywood ultimately only sees one thing: the all mighty green.

Gina Carano was expendable in her minor role on The Mandalorian. She might be a martyr now, which could be worse publicity-wise for Disney in the long run, but I doubt this will lead anywhere except to Carano being unable to secure that much work in the business for awhile. That’s too bad if she would have been a great fit for casting. We might never know.

Then again, some studio might cast her because of all this negative light and promotion. Hard to say how this will work. I’m sticking by my former statements that she doesn’t need to make extreme comparisons involving Nazis and Jews, that’s just a landmine not worth stepping anywhere near, unless she’s in some film project involving this era.

Look at what Vince Vaughn, the Van Halen brothers and others have chosen to do. You can be plenty successful in life and business and avoid getting entrenched in social media controversy. Life might literally be too short to bother.

Alex Van Halen Reminds That Not Everybody Cares About Social Media

The rock guitar god Eddie may have fallen, but his spirit lives on

When perusing the news, I tend to avoid a lot of stories involving he said this, she said that, he did this, she did that — on social media — because at the end of the day, does it really matter? Just because something is trending on Twitter, does that mean it’s really the most important thing happening in the world?

That’s not to say trending topics aren’t important. Some are. Some are worth further exploration and discussion, but a lot of it is the kind of water cooler BS that in a day, week or month is forgotten. Why waste valuable time digging deeper into that bottomless pit?

Have mentioned before there is a circle jerk fascination with social media, in that many think these days that the world revolves around what happens with Twitter, Facebook. Insta and so on. If you’re not plugged in and active on these platforms, some think you’re just dead to the world.

I’m plugged into them, use them, but definitely limit my time on them. That’s the healthy approach for me. How much time do you spend on them?

Alex Van Halen conducted an interview in August 2020, ahead of his brother Eddie’s death and talked about why they don’t say more on the internet. You might find his point of view refreshing.

“All these people are writing books about the band and they know nothing about the inner workings of this band,” Alex explained in an interview with Modern Drummer, conducted in August 2020 and recently published as part of the Modern Drummer Legends Vol. 2 – Alex Van Halen book. “And Ed and I don’t say anything because we’re not in the business of bullshitting on the internet and books and all that kind of crap. We just want to play. It’s that simple.”

Alex Van Halen is ‘Not in the Business of Bulls—ting’ Online

Some have called Van Halen’s lack of information and communication through social media cause for alarm, but Alex puts it rather simply: they just didn’t care about talking online. They made their music privately and when it was ready to share with the world, they did.

Wolfgang, perhaps because he’s from a different generation, is much more active on social media than his uncle and late father. He’s likely to take a more conventional approach to his own solo music, Mammoth WVH (see: Wolfgang Van Halen Releases New Song “Distance” Dedicated to Father with Video)

This isn’t to criticize those who do spend a lot of time on social media. It’s your life, your time, spend it wherever you want. Just saying sometimes pulling away and looking at where you are spending most of your time and evaluating the return value is worthwhile.

This is why I always try and thank readers for whatever time you spend here. Even if it’s just passing by here and there or read every day. I’ll try, whenever possible, to cut through the BS online. Whatever time you are giving reading and spending on this website and/or watching our review videos is appreciated. Thank you.

When Stars Become Major Social Influencer Marketers Their Value To The Project Increases

Wonder Woman 1984 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It seems paying Gal Gadot $10 million for Wonder Woman 1984 was about more than her starring role in the film.

May have to rethink stance of paying actors multi-millions in the current environment (see: Hollywood Bloated Salaries Meet Fixed Streaming Dollars – Red Notice), if they are going to also be a significant part of the marketing arm (over and beyond working the traditional press circuit, of course).

The longstanding media blitz accompanying movies playing in theaters is one thing, but those with massive social media presence bring additional marketing value that simply can’t be overlooked.

Gal Gadot has noteworthy social media influence, generating 8+ million likes on her Instagram alone.

That said, the social media push for the pic, particularly by star Gal Gadot, has been wonderful. “The social channels for WW84 across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, with the movie official pages (3.9M), the studio (53.8M) and DC channels (8.2M) — the Social Media Universe of Gal Gadot (60.5M) is the strongest driver of engagement since opening. Specifically, activity on the Gadot Instagram over the week has clocked over 8M likes.”

‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Box Office Fall 67% In Weekend 2 As HBO Max Glitches Continue – Deadline

Deadline sure namedrops RelishMix a lot in their quoted article. Probably because that’s the source they’re referencing for the social media buzz around the Wonder Woman sequel.

Box office sales predictably dropped in week two, perhaps in greater part to the fast cooling reviews after the initial wave which had the film rated much higher than where it sits today. It seems that WarnerMedia played the early film critics like a fiddle. They knew who to target that were more likely to review the film more positively. I’m not saying there was any skullduggery, but you have to wonder how a movie comes out so highly rated and reviewed and quickly drops like a stone the minute the rest of us without access can watch and review it.

Back to stars that also market their own films? If they have a lot of social media followers and attention that certainly adds value. However, if the movie isn’t very good, nothing will doom sales results worse than word of mouth. That travels faster than anything online.

Unfortunately for Wonder Woman 1984 too many reviews are unfavorable, citing issues with convoluted writing, implausible and bizarre plot points and a, gasp, too long runtime. “The Monkey’s Paw” short story by W.W Jacobs was published almost 120 years ago making the whole Dreamstone all too familiar territory. The writing team of Jenkins and Johns drank too much of their own Kool-Aid, if they thought what they were doing was fresh and engaging.

That said, it’s not quite Terminator: Dark Fate bad, but it’s a major letdown from the first film.

Maybe More Should Listen To Vince Vaughn’s Take On Social Media Usage

Freaky ⭐️½

Reading Vince Vaughn’s perspective on why he doesn’t use social media is a reminder to those using too much social media that it isn’t that important.

(admittedly, this piggybacks on Monday’s post on Gina Carano, see: Hey Star Wars Hardcore Fans, Stop Trying To Get People Fired For Being Ignorant on Social Media)

“I’ve never been a big social media person,” Vaughn explained. While he says he has “a lot of friends who enjoy it,” the Old School star admits he’s “never really engaged in social media all that much.”

Why ‘Freaky’ Star Vince Vaughn Doesn’t Use Social Media

Put us in the group that didn’t care that much for Vince Vaughn’s most recent movie, but I like him as an actor. He’s proven to be more versatile than many that would just take the same safe role. He’s taken on some unexpected projects that surprised me. His facial expressions are a bit generic at times and I don’t find his brand of comedy hilarious, but I can see and appreciate his general style. He brings flavor to the roles he’s in that’s noticeable. I like that.

What he’s saying about his use of social media is especially interesting.

If we read between the lines, this is a refreshing reminder that some, predominantly the younger generation today it seems, rely far too much on social media for what’s important in the world. Don’t misunderstand me, there are some grandparent types my age going hog wild on Twitter and Instagram too.

Does it really matter, though? I mean, will you be remembered for what you posted on social media? Who will be? Maybe those with a gadzillion followers. Those influencers that make a living maintaining a huge following. The vast majority of the rest of us? Doesn’t really matter.

Yes, including some celebrities like Vince Vaughn.

Mostly strategically, I’ve used Twitter and Facebook since they were both released. I’ve been on this internet since dial-up days and have blogged, off and on, since 1999. That makes me a dinosaur online. I haven’t used Instagram that much and never used Tiktok. There are plenty of other sites I have used and don’t use that have enjoyed various fad-like popularity. My use of these social media platforms by and large, historically, has been promotional, not personal.

I don’t mean my accounts are spam accounts, they aren’t, but if you look at my Twitter for example, these days it’s mostly posts from this blog. When my last book was published (yikes, almost 10 years ago now!) I wrote more about that project. I figured that information would be interesting and useful to those who were interested in reading my book, or might be interested in me as an author. Sometimes, rarely, I’ll like or retweet something interesting, creative, curious, funny or inspiring some other type of emotion. What emotion that is of mine isn’t always stated. Herein lies the danger of ascribing too much relevance to what somebody “likes” online.

I think what Vaughn was being asked is why he wasn’t using social media to promote projects he’s in. That’s a fair question in 2020. His answer is actually smart. If he gets in for just promotion, then he won’t be as “popular” most likely as other actors who work more personal info into their social media presence.

Of course, by revealing more personal information on his life, he also risks being misunderstood, misquoted and maligned. That’s what brevity on Twitter can do if you say something brief or, gasp, you like something that is unpopular.

Since when did liking a tweet or retweeting something become indisputable evidence of skullduggery on a person’s part? For some, it has. The obsessive social media users need to get outside more. Go offline. Stop obsessing over everything someone says, does, likes, dislikes, etc on social media.

Maybe Vince Vaughn is smarter than we realize. His choice not to engage at all on social media vs. the President of the United States tweeting everything he can think of looks sage-like. Sometimes diarrhea of the mouth becomes diarrhea of the soul.

Steven Seagal Not ‘Above The Law’ In Crypto Currency Debacle

Steven Seagal has been in some good and very bad movies. Apparently he was also once the “Brand Ambassador” for a crypto currency company. Unfortunately, he used social media to promote the currency which is a violation of securities rules and regulations.

The company he represents was issued a cease and desist and Segal left the position thereafter. Now, it appears that Seagal has settled with the SEC over the situation.

Seagal “failed to disclose he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 worth of B2G tokens in exchange for his promotions,” which included posts plugging Bitcoiin2Gen and its initial coin offering in 2018, the SEC says. “Bitcoiin” is not a typo.

Steven Seagal settles with SEC over 2018 cryptocurrency promotion – The Verge

This applies to everybody, regardless of your website audience size, traffic, social media followers, etc: don’t do this. Ever.

Especially those of you reading this with any type of internet or real “celebrity” status and are using affiliate links and other advertising to your followers, always give the proper disclosure if you’re paid and never, ever, ever recommend securities or investments. That’s just asking to have the feds come knocking.

You’d think Steven Seagal who spent time as a law enforcement officer (cough – Lawman — cough) would realize that this activity was prohibited. Maybe that’s what the SEC thought, also.

One thing I’ll say about Seagal not related to this case. He doesn’t look as much like the Steven Seagal we all remember from the 80s and 90s. Hey, very few of us do, but in 2016 Seagal starred in six movies. Some actors and actresses are lucky to be 1-2 per year, but he was in six.

He was in three movies in 2019. None so far in 2020. Seagal’s first few movies were among his best: Above The Law, Under Siege, Hard To Kill, Marked For Justice and he remains an actor I’m somewhat interested in, but will admit it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything he’s been in that I enjoyed. Any reader recommendations of Seagal movies in the last say 10 years that he’s been in that are good?