You wouldn’t think of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley as individuals that would come out against cancel culture, but sure enough, it happened.
KISS’s Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are now going to bat for actress Gina Carano after she was recently ousted from “The Mandalorian” over some controversial posts on her social media accounts.
Carano first of all made her mark as an MMA fighter and then she went on to Cara Dune in a hit Disney show. However, she was dropped last February due to her post where she compared being a conservative in modern American with being a Jew in Nazi Germany.
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a spokesperson of the Disney-owned Lucasfilm said at the time. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Incidentally, Simmons and Stanley are both Jewish, and they described Carano’s exit from “The Mandalorian” while they answered questions from fans at a KISS VIP exclusive soundcheck gathering that was being conducted in Austin, Texas on the 29th of September. “They should have kept the chick, even though she had different political [views]. It’s not about politics; it’s about whether you’re a good actress.” He also went on to describe “The Mandalorian” as one of the best current shows on television.
Paul weighed in on the topic a few minutes later, saying: “Look, political views… This whole cancel culture is so dangerous. The idea is that people can’t speak their minds. That’s what freedom is all about. And to lose your job because you’ve got something to say — even if I find it offensive — that’s… we’ve gotta look at that. Plus she can kick my ass.”
Carano also shared how she felt that being a Republican in America today is just like being a Jew in Nazi Germany.
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views,” the post she shared read.
This isn’t the first controversial social media post by Carano. In November 2020 she voiced her support for then-President Trump, openly questioning whether the 2020 U.S. election had been fair.
Indeed, some of Carano’s fan base were attempting to boycott Disney plus after she was dropped from the show by Lucasfilm.
Kudos to Carano for taking this stand, and Kudos to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS for defending her.