Disney fires James Gunn over offensive tweets against Trump

James Gunn will no longer direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after he was fired by Disney Studios as the filmmaker's controversial tweets on pedophilia and rape resurfaced.

The move comes after conservative personalities resurfaced old tweets in which Gunn, an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, had joked about the sensitive issues, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn in a statement on Friday, said:

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.

On Thursday, Gunn responded on Twitter to the old tweets being brought up, saying that he used to engage in provocative work, often making movies and jokes that were taboo or simply outrageous. The 51-year-old said that he has changed since, and so has his work and sense of humour, adding:

It's not to say I'm better, but I am 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.

The offensive tweets came to light after conservative website The Daily Caller dug up the social media posts, which were mostly posted almost a decade ago, in 2008 and 2009. Soon after, conservatives began tweeting their followers to confront the Marvel director at Comic-Con.

James Gunn had been expected to be at Sony's presentation on Friday. Insiders say the director is not expected to be part of the panel now. He issued a statement on Friday afternoon, saying that he "regretted" the tweets in question and stressed that "they don't reflect the person I am today."

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.

Gunn had been writing the script for the third Guardians of the Galaxy film, and the movie was expected to begin shooting in Atlanta in the fall for an expected 2020 release date, though Marvel Studios had never officially announced the date.