Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn fired after old tweets resurface

The American filmmaker will exit the third volume of the Marvel series. 
James Gunn
James Gunn

Disney Studios fired Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 writer-director James Gunn on Friday after his old tweets about a few controversial topics resurfaced the internet this week. The tweets, which dated back to 2009, included jokes involving rape and paedophilia. James has also been an outspoken critic of the United States President, Donald Trump.

“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,” Alan Horn, Walt Disney Studios Chairman, said in a statement to a leading media organisation.

The tweets came to light after a website dug up the social media posts of James on Thursday. The American filmmaker issued a statement on Friday afternoon, saying that he “regretted” the tweets. He also tweeted in response, saying: “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. I’m very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it's shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.”

James was the writer and director of the previous two iterations of Guardians of the Galaxy, which were huge box-office hits for both Disney and Marvel. The first movie, released in 2014, grossed $773 million worldwide, while the second in 2017 made in $864 million.

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