Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has defended director James Gunn following his firing by Disney after a series of offensive tweets were unearthed.
Gunn, who wrote and directed the first two instalments of the hugely popular Marvel series, was sacked last Friday (July 20) due to the "offensive attitudes and statements" discovered on his Twitter feed, Disney said.
Former wrestler Bautista has now taken to Twitter say that while Gunn "made mistakes" he did not deserve to be fired.
He wrote: "I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this: @JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. Im NOT ok with what’s happening to him,"
I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this..@JamesGunn is one of the most loving,caring,good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. Im NOT ok with what’s happening to him
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 21, 2018
Gamora star Zoe Saldana later admitted on Twitter that it's been "a challenging weekend". She wrote: "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".
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.
— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 22, 2018
Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the franchise, also appeared to lend her support to Gunn in a similarly worded tweet, writting: "Love to every single member of my GOTG family."
Love to every single member of my GOTG family.
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018
She later added that she will "speak more on this later but just wanted to make sure that was out there."
Just to clarify, I'll speak more on this later but just wanted to make sure that was out there. Love to you all.
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018
Leading star Chris Pratt, who plays Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, took to Twitter to publish 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."
"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger."
— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018
JAMES 1:19
🙏♥️
Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, who plays Kraglin and performs the on-set motion capture for Rocket Raccoon, also published a lengthy defence of his brother in a series of tweets.
1. I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I'm quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
Gunn was behind the first two Guardians of the Galaxy hits and had been working on the script for the third.
The filmmaker addressed his sacking in a statement last week, 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."
Disney has not yet announced a replacement for Gunn.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to hit cinemas in 2020.
