The Mandalorian’s Rosario Dawson cleared of assaulting and abusing trans man
Rosario Dawson at the 2020 NBC Universal Winter Press Tour (Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Rosario Dawson and her family have been cleared of assaulting and abusing a trans man after a judge issued a full dismissal of all charges.
A civil suit was filed against The Mandalorian star’s family in 2019 by Dedrek Finley, a longtime friend who used to work for them doing household repairs while living on their property.
Dawson, who currently plays Ahsoka Tano in the hit Star Wars series, said she welcomed the court’s decision.
“My family is pleased that this baseless suit is over,” she said in a statement shared on Twitter.
“While the vast majority of the false claims had been voluntarily withdrawn last year-including every single false claim of discrimination. The court has now terminated the remainder of the case allowing us all to move forward.
“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.”
In an interview with Out magazine Finley detailed extensive allegations against the Dawson family, whom he said would repeatedly denigrate and disregard his gender identity.
He claimed that while working on the family property Dawson’s father would scream in his face saying “a man wouldn’t work like this” and “you only think you’re a man”.
Rosario Dawson was reportedly aware of the issues, but when he complained to her about the misgendering she allegedly responded, “You’re a grown woman,” and said, “Whatever.”
In the lawsuit he added that she would continually refer to him with the wrong pronouns, even after being corrected.
Finley said that as time went on the abuse escalated to physical assault, with Dawson’s mother Isabel allegedly ripping through a screen door and pulling him through to punch him. He alleged that Rosario Dawson stole his phone and pinned him down so her mother could keep on punching.
Finley sued the family for assault, battery, trespassing, discrimination, civil rights and labor violations, seeking financial damages for the physical, mental, and emotional injuries he said he endured.
But by August 2020 he had voluntarily withdrawn 18 of the 20 claims against the family without a settlement, and his lawyer had left the case.
Only two counts remained, both of which involved the alleged physical altercation with Dawson’s mother. After reviewing the evidence a Los Angeles superior court judge dismissed all charges.
Dawson broke her silence on the controversy last year as fans raised concern regarding her casting in The Mandalorian.
The star said she understood their concerns but steadfastly denied all accusations levelled against her, adding that the reason so many claims were dropped is simply “because they didn’t happen.”
“I was raised in a very inclusive and loving way, and that’s how I’ve lived my entire life,” Dawson said, having come out as LGBT+ herself months earlier.
“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. So I feel the record is really clear.”
