Looks Like James Gunn Is Gonna Stay Fired Over Those Decade-Old Tweets
Disney is sticking to its guns, but not its Gunn.
Walt Disney Studios is reportedly sticking firm on its decision to remove Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn from the helm of the franchise’s third instalment, despite the ousted filmmaker receiving the public backing of the cast.
According to Variety, who quoted “multiple people familiar with the studio’s current thinking”, Disney has no plans to rehire Gunn, who was dropped from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after old tweets resurfaced in which the director made jokes about rape and paedophilia.
“I don’t see Disney re-hiring him,” one source told the publication. “Those tweets were so horrible and Disney has a different standard than other studios.”
The tweets in question, which Gunn wrote between 2008 and 2011, were unearthed by Mike Cernovich, a prominent alt-right personality who had previously clashed with the filmmaker on social media. Cernovich cited the tweets as proof there was “a pedo network operating in Hollywood”.
While Gunn apologised for the tweets, Variety reports that the feeling in Disney is that those sort of jokes are unacceptable in the #MeToo era and do not fit with Disney’s family-friendly reputation.
On Tuesday, Guardians of the Galaxy cast members including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper signed an open letter in which they said Gunn has their full support.
“We’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him,” the letter read.
But the cast stopped short of threatening to quit over the issue, and it seems like Disney are more than happy to weather the storm. Meanwhile, Marvel stars Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth have both unfollowed Gunn on social media — read into that whatever you will.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has yet to begin shooting, and no release date has been set.
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Feature image via Wikimedia