James Gunn tweets: Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana break silence on firing as Selma Blair calls for him to be re-hired by Disney

The filmmaker came under fire for tweets about rape, paedophilia and terror attacks
In support: Chris Pratt speaks out about James Gunn's firing
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Jennifer Ruby23 July 2018
The Weekender

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A host of A-list actors have spoken out over Disney’s sacking of director James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy 3, with 150,000 signing a petition to get him reinstated.

Stars of the successful film franchise including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana have now voiced their opinions on social media after a series of offensive tweets posted by Gunn between 2008-2012 lead to his dismissal.

Saldana, who plays Gamora in the films, appeared to lend her support to Gunn by saying that she “loved all the members of my GOTG family.”

She wrote on Twitter: “It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term.

“I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.”

In a slightly more cryptic post, Pratt quoted a bible verse, which read: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. JAMES 1:19.”

Selma Blair was a bit more obvious in her support of the director, dubbing him “one of the good guys.”

“Marvel: RE-HIRE JAMES GUNN - Sign the Petition! Because if people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? This man is one of the good ones,” she wrote.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, in pictures

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Guardians star Dave Bautista also spoke out in support of Gunn, calling on Hollywood to “unite” against Disney’s decision.

He wrote: “What happened here is so much bigger then G3, @JamesGunn ,myself,@Disney etc. This was a #cybernazi attack that succeeded.

“Unless we start to unite together against this crap, whether people are offended are not! ...it’s going to get much worse. And it can happen to anyone.”

Gunn was fired on Friday after right-wing news outlet The Daily Caller unearthed his tweets, in which he joked about rape, paedophilia and terror attacks.

He has since said in a statement: “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.”

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