The anti-trans discrimination lawsuit against The Mandalorian star Rosario Dawson has been dismissed. Since late 2019, Dawson – who’s recently taken on the role of Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars universe – has been facing allegations of verbal abuse and assault from former longtime family friend Dedrek Finley. As of earlier this month, however, the Los Angeles Superior Court has elected to throw the case out due to lack of evidence.
Initially, Finley accused Dawson and three other family members of 20 different instances of both verbal and physical abuse, seeking “damages for that as well as battery, assault, emotional distress and several other allegations.” In August 2020, Finley – who’s known the Dawsons for decades, including being financially aided by them after his move to California – withdrew 18 of his accusations. At this same time, his lawyer also stepped away from the case, leaving Finley to represent himself.
In order to determine the merit of these last remaining claims, the court ordered Finley to provide further evidence to support his allegations, such as documentation, answers to additional questions and an independent medical examination. After Finley failed to produce such evidence, however, the court decreed that the entire case should be dismissed on May 21st.
Following the ruling, Dawson took to Twitter to release a statement. “My family is pleased that this baseless suit is over,” the Daredevil actress began. She called the allegations “heartbreaking” but revealed that she and her family only have “great empathy” for Finley.
That these false claims came from someone we’ve known as chosen family for decades and who we were trying so hard to help out, as we have many times in the past, was very heartbreaking. Nevertheless, we have great empathy for him and have only ever wished him well.
— Rosario Dawson (@rosariodawson) May 27, 2021
Though the backlash never reached Gina Carano levels, this lawsuit against Dawson did lead to some criticism of her casting as Ahsoka online. It remains to be seen whether this will be the end of the negativity on social media, but it certainly seems to bring the situation to a close from a legal standpoint, allowing Rosario Dawson to move forward with her career in peace. It’s unclear if she’ll reprise her character in The Mandalorian season 3, but she is getting her own Ahsoka spinoff series, coming in 2022.
Published: May 28, 2021 03:17 pm