Dave Bautista was the director’s fiercest defender.
The stars of “ Guardians of the Galaxy ” rallied behind director James Gunn after he was fired over offensive tweets from 2009 that joked about rape and pedophilia.
Chris Pratt, who broke out as a blockbuster star after his first appearance in “GOTG,” tweeted Sunday night, “‘Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.’ JAMES 1:19.”
Co-star Zoe Saldana was equally diplomatic, but more explicit in her support of Gunn, 51.
“It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie,” she tweeted . “I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of [turn]. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.”
Dave Bautista, however, was Gunn’s fiercest defender.
“What will you do when the #cybernazis attack you? Who will stand by you? Who will cowardly distance themselves from you? Who will punish you for horrible JOKES in the past instead of defending you for INSPIRING millions? MILLIONS!!! #Redemption #injustice @JamesGunn,” Bautista, 49, tweeted Sunday.
When a fan asked the former MMA fighter if he’d walk away from the hit franchise if Gunn didn’t return, Bautista replied, “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.”
The “cybernazis” to whom Bautista refers are alt-right personalities and PizzaGate proponents Michael Cernovich (who himself was revealed to have denied the existence of date rape) and Jack Posobiec, who each wrote about Gunn’s old tweets.
On Friday, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said in a 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.”
“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,” Gunn tweeted over the weekend after coming under fire for his old social media activity.
“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… In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies. For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out.”
Gunn previously apologized for and renounced his tweets when he was first hired to direct the Marvel megahit movies in 2012.
The director also received support from actress Selma Blair, who urged her followers to sign a petition reinstating him to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
As of press time, the Change.org petition garnered more than 182,000 e-signatures.
