Another day, another big name losing a high-profile job. Disney has decided to fire Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn, who was set to direct the next installment of the series Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for the company’s Marvel brand with production expected to begin early next year.
Disney made the decision after some vulgar tweets by Gunn from the past resurfaced. The director has since spoken about this, and you can see what he had to say below.
The tweets in question were from 2008 to 2012, and they were revealed by alt-right author Jack Posobiec, who shared an image of Gunn’s various offensive tweets; Mike Cernovich, who himself is no stranger to controversial tweets, namely about rape, and a conservative website called The Daily Caller.
Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn responded to the resurfacing tweets, saying “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”
Gunn released this statement via Twitter:
“Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.
In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies.
For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it.
Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.”
Gunn was scheduled to appear at San Diego Comic-Con later today, but is no longer expected to be there.
[Source: Heat Vision]
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