Walt Disney has announced that it has severed ties with James Gunn, removing him from production of the third Guardians of the Galaxy film, in the wake of multiple old tweets from the director joking about rape and paedophilia.
Concern over Gunn’s incendiary online comments prior to his rise to genre superstardom as the director and architect behind Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has risen before.
But the latest resurfacing of Gunn’s Twitter history — circulated by conservative activists as a response to Gunn’s political commentary over the administration of Donald Trump — has lead to an official response from Walt Disney Studios, culminating in the immediate termination of the studio’s partnership with Gunn.
Here’s the official statement from Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn, as printed by The Hollywood Reporter:
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 — who was expected to appear at Sony’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con today — also offered a response on Twitter yesterday, prior to the announcement of his firing:
1. 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.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 20, 2018
3. In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 20, 2018
5. 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.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 20, 2018
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was expected to begin filming later this year in Atlanta, ahead of an expected 2020 release date, but now a search for a replacement for Gunn is underway. We’ll bring you more on this story as we learn it.