The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy have released a joint statement in full support of James Gunn, who was recently fired by Disney after a number of offensive Tweets made by the director surfaced. The letter highlights Gunn’s character and comes on the heels of a Change.org petition demanding Disney re-hire Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The letter is a significant show of solidarity between the cast and crew following Gunn’s crude jokes, which the director has apologized for. Here’s what Gunn said after Disney severed all business ties with him:
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. It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago.
While the open statement—signed by Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Michael Rooker—admonishes Gunn’s horrible Tweets, the cast believes him to be a good person.
“The character [Gunn] has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart we all know, trust, and love,” the statement reads in part.
Along with more than 300,000 who have signed the Change.org petition, the cast calls on Disney to re-hire Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The outpouring of support for Gunn—especially from the cast—might persuade Disney to reverse its decision. As of this writing, however, Disney has yet to respond to the statement.
Below you can read the statement in full.
Neither Disney or Marvel have made any statement at this time.
