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Disney has fired Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn due to some past controversial tweets from the filmmaker, which have recently resurfaced, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The director is well-known for bringing Guardians of the Galaxy - one of the best Marvel movies - and it's sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, to the big screen, but he will no longer be making the third instalment, which was due to start filming in just a few months.
"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," said Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn in a statement.
In response, Gunn tweeted out a thread (see below), but has since released a more official statement saying: “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.”
1. 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.July 20, 2018
Whether or not GOTG3 will continue with its set filming schedule is unknown. Gunn recently finished the script - teasing it on Instagram - but it's unclear whether Disney will be going ahead with the original script or starting over. Gunn is expected to not appear at the Sony Pictures’ Hall H panel at San Diego Comic Con 2018 later today as planned.
