WENN
James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, has been fired by Disney-Marvel as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after disturbing tweets from his account about rape and pedophilia have emerged.
One of the now-deleted tweets read, “I like when little boys touch me in my silly place.”
Another tweet said: “The best thing about being raped is when you’re done being raped and it’s like ‘whew this feels great, not being raped!’”
Gunn claims that the tweets — which were discovered on Thursday, July 19, by people who oppose his political reviews — were “jokes that were outrageous and taboo” because he considered himself to be a “provocateur”.
Disney-Marvel released the following statement:
“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 Alan Horn, the studio’s chairman.
https://twitter.com/brooksbarnesNYT/status/1020388123937714176
In addition to the above examples, Gunn also tweeted from jokes about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, AIDS and the Holocaust, from 2008 to 2011.
Gunn responded to the discovery of the tweets, 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. 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; 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.
For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it.
Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.”
