We just wanted to put this up because it’s important news. This isn’t a commentary on Whether James Gunn is a bad person or a victim. This is just an announcement. A few minutes ago, Disney announced that it was firing James Gunn from Guardians of The Galaxy 3.
The firing seems to stem from a series of Tweets made by the director between the years of 2007-2012. There has been a growing trend of people on both sides of the political aisle mining the digital histories of their enemies in hopes of finding offensive material or views that contradict with their current statements.
Disney’s Alan Horn had this to say:
“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.”
Here’s Gunn’s statement:
“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.”
“Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all.”
James Gunn is scheduled to make an announcement on a new project at a 6:00 PM PST panel at Comic-Con tonight. There is no word if the panel is still going on or if Gunn will be appearing there.