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In a shocking news to all Marvel fans, Walt Disney Pictures decided to fire director James Gunn, after some past offensive tweets of his surfaced recently. James Gunn, known for directing Guardians of the Galaxy series, had been a staunch opposer of the US President Donald Trump and has been regularly calling out Trump's history and actions in his tweets. This, in turn, made some of the President's supporters bring out Gunn's old tweets from the past decade, where he had made jokes about paedophilia and rape.
The director, while accepting the decision of being fired, had apologised for his old tweets but he confessed he was a provocateur in the past and he has changed himself a lot over the years. While the decision of firing him is still upheld by the studios, many of the fans and one of his Guardians of the Galaxy star has come out in defence of Gunn and called out Disney for acting rashly.
Former WWE star Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in GOTG, was the most forthcoming among the cast in his support for James Gunn. This is what he tweeted,
I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this..@JamesGunn is one of the most loving,caring,good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. Im NOT ok with what’s happening to him
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 21, 2018
What will you do when the #cybernazis attack you? Who will stand by you? Who will cowardly distance themselves from you? Who will punish you for horrible JOKES in the past instead of defending you for INSPIRING millions? MILLIONS!!! #Redemption #injustice @JamesGunn
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 22, 2018
His other co-stars, Zoe Saldanha (Gamora) and Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) played safe in their tweets -
It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.
— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 22, 2018
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
JAMES 1:19
— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018
However, actress Selma Blair urged fans to sign a petition asking Marvel to re-hire Gunn.
Marvel: RE-HIRE JAMES GUNN - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/JeVbFZkQLL via @Change. Because if people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? This man is one of the good ones.
— Selma Blair (@SelmaBlair) July 22, 2018
The fans went one step ahead and reminded the studios that they had hired Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, even though his past is not so clean (he is over that, hence all is forgiven and we love him!). Some also reminded Marvel that their country's president continues to remain Trump, despite the controversial statements he had made in past, and still continues to make.
This fan even reminded them of their founder's checkered past
Robert Downey Jr had a regretful, unmarketable past that audiences and Disney rightfully overlooked, because human beings improve and grow.
Johnny Depp. Lassetter. Forgiven & employed for NO reason.
Do you want me to get into Walt Disney himself? I’ll go there. #JamesGunn
— Stress!!! guy!! (@SamyulDAVIS) July 20, 2018
Taking a cue out of Frozen's song, 'Let it go'!
My take on the whole #JamesGunn thing:
He said/did some shitty stuff a decade ago. But didn’t we all? I know I was certainly an absolute shithead when I was younger.
Gunn clearly has changed for the better. If we go after people for ancient mistakes, then why learn from them? pic.twitter.com/idYAXR9xuh
— Brendan “Lor” Lowry (@LorTarkam) July 21, 2018
Ah, the Trump joke!
Just so we're clear:
Jokes about rape will (rightly) get you fired.
Boasts about raping will get you elected President.#JamesGunn
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) July 21, 2018
Disney, why so inconsistent in hiring and firing?
Johnny Depp beats his wife doesn't apologize and still works for #Disney
John Lasseter gets accused of sexual assualt and is still employed by Disney#JamesGunn makes edgy jokes on Twitter years ago and also apologizes years ago but gets fired in like 6 hours
— Prabhdeep Samra (@S1Prabhdeep) July 20, 2018
Errr...this is embarrassing!
Hey @Disney, you want to fire James Gunn over something he did a long time ago that he already apologized for? Then can you please explain this?#JamesGunn #JamesGunntweets #GuardiansoftheGalaxyVol3 #Disney pic.twitter.com/jzhIFBsf4A
— 8-Bit Idiot (@The8BitIdiot) July 20, 2018
Another Trump reference
So James Gunn gets persecuted for his past & loses everything but your PRESIDENT is STILL president despite doing, saying & tweeting FAR worse. America you're fucking broken #JamesGunn
— JayBird (@LycanEclipse) July 20, 2018
Why didn't Disney do a BG check? Or did they?
I'm with @JamesGunn. This is ridicolous. Ok, those are very hard jokes..But you cant fire a director just cos of someone fishing tweets of 10 years old. Disney was aware and people can change. Politically correct and social media will kill us all. Im so sad.. #JamesGunn #GOTG3
— Riccardo Mazzi (@RiccardoMaz) July 20, 2018
Well, Disney can't be blamed for jumping the 'Gunn' (pardon the pun) and finding offence in the director's past misdemeanours, 'cos some of those tweets were in really bad taste. But since James Gunn has changed over the years and the fact that he hasn't caused anyone bodily harm, wouldn't it be prudent for the studios to make him issue a written apology instead of firing him?
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2018 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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