Anti-Trans Harassment Suit Against 'Mandalorian' Star Rosario Dawson Tossed
A Los Angeles court has tossed a lawsuit against Rosario Dawson alleging anti-transgender harassment and assault, Vanity Fair has learned.
According to the article, Dedrek Finley — a trans man who knew Dawson and had done household repairs for her family — accused the actress of subjecting him to "mistreatment and discrimination, including physical assault and anti-trans insults such as deliberate misgendering" in a suit filed in 2019.
Evidently, Finley had known the actor and her family for around two decades. When Finley relocated to California, per the report, "Dawson and her family gave him a place to live, a paying job" doing maintenance work, and Dawson "had personally given him money to help with the relocation.
"It was around that time that Finley told them he was transitioning."
But at some point afterward, the relationship evidently began to sour, which culminated in the suit. Finley told the gay press at one point that the alleged assault was the tipping point: "I always hoped there would be some reconciliation, but when it goes physical, that's it. You have to take a stand for yourself."
But rather than moving forward, the case "gradually began to wither," according to Vanity Fair. "Last fall, the court granted Finley's voluntary request to withdraw all but two of his claims, and the lawyer representing him withdrew from the case."
Eventually, only the assault allegations remained of the suit, and those were tossed on May 21 "after Finley did not respond to repeated court requests for documentation, answers to questions, and an independent medical examination aimed at reinforcing his claims of mental and physical harm."
The allegations had riven the public — especially once Dawson was cast on "The Mandalorian." As Vanity Fair noted, some "Star Wars" fans painted Dawson with the same "anti-trans" brush as another "Mandalorian" actor, Gina Carano, who sparked a controversy of her own with a social media post that "was widely seen as mocking the pronoun choices of trans people."
"Dawson and Carano never shared a scene together on the show, but some fans on social media drew a link between the two," the article said.
Vanity Fair had previously asked Dawson about these issues when reporting about her role on "The Mandalorian," to which Dawson said at the time: "The reason that all of the discrimination claims were dropped is because they didn't happen."
She added, "I've always used my voice to fight for, lift up, and empower the LGBTQA community, and use my platform to channel trans voices, in fiction and nonfiction work that I've produced and directed."
Following the suit's dismissal, Dawson reaffirmed her earlier stance, stating: "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."