The stars of the " Guardians of the Galaxy"
superhero film franchise on Monday came out in defence of director
James Gunn, who was fired by Disney earlier this month over a series
of recently-emerged old tweets in which he made jokes about rape and
paedophilia.
"We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt
firing... and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in
order to think, pray, listen and discuss," according to the letter on
actor Chris Pratt's Instagram, which was signed by Pratt, Bradley
Cooper, Zoë Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista and others.
The actors said they were "encouraged by the outpouring of support"
from those who wish to see Gunn reinstated on the series, but were
discouraged by "those so easily duped into believing the many
outlandish conspiracy theories" surrounding the director.
Gunn's old tweets - in which he joked about rape and paedophillia -
were unearthed then published by the conservative Daily Caller news
website, leading to his dismissal by Disney on July 21.
The Missouri-native issued a statement in The Hollywood Reporter
saying he regretted and took full responsibility for the tweets,
which was followed by Bautista saying he was "not ok" with the
firing.
"He's gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He's
made mistakes. We all have," the actor wrote on Twitter.
Gunn wrote and directed the two previous " Guardians of the Galaxy"
films, and had been due to release a third instalment in the series
in 2020.