‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Cast Pens Open Letter In Support Of Sacked Director James Gunn

The cast of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy have published an open letter in support of director James Gunn, who was fired earlier this month over offensive tweets he sent nearly a decade ago.

“We fully support James Gunn,” reads the letter which was shared by the Guardians cast on social media overnight. “We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss.

“In that time, 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.”

Gunn lost his job at the helm of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after Mike Cernovich, a prominent alt-right personality who had previously clashed with the filmmaker on social media, posted screenshots of tweets sent by Gunn between 2008 and 2011 in which he joked about paedophelia and rape.

Gunn apologised for the tweets, calling them “totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative”, but was nonetheless dismissed by Walt Disney Studios, whose Chairman Alan Horn said the jokes were “indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values”.

In their open letter, the cast insisted that they were “not here to defend [Gunn’s] jokes of many years ago but rather to share our experience having spent many years together on set making Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2“.

“There is little due process in the court of public opinion,” they wrote. “James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial. Given the growing political divide in this country, it’s safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.”

The letter is signed by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn (James’ brother).

If you please, read the statement written and signed by The Guardians of the Galaxy cast in support of James Gunn’s reinstatement as director of GOTG Volume 3. pic.twitter.com/TjNA9RF6M8

— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 30, 2018

Meanwhile, a petition calling for Disney to reinstate Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has attracted more than 344,000 signatures.