The leading stars of the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise have pledged their support for sacked director James Gunn in an open letter.
Gunn, who wrote and directed the first two instalments of the hugely popular Marvel series, was fired as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Disney after a series of offensive tweets by Gunn from more than ten years ago were unearthed.
In the wake of the news breaking, members of the Guardians cast took to Twitter to defend the sacked director, and now Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista and Vin Diesel have issued an open letter explaining why they are standing behind Gunn.
The letter states they "fully support" the filmmaker and says they are "encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3".
It says: "We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these 10 days to respond in order to think, pray, listen and discuss.
"In that time, we've been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.
"Being in the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies has been a great honour in each of our lives. We cannot let this moment pass without expressing our love, support, and gratitude for James.
"We are not here to defend his jokes of many years ago but rather to share our experience having spend many years together on set making Guardians Of The Galaxy 1 and 2."
The statement continued: "The character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart we all know, trust, and love.
"In casting each of us to help him tell the story of misfits who find redemption, he changed our lives forever. We believe the theme of redemption has never been more relevant than now.
"Each of us looks forward to working with our friend James again in the future. His story isn't over - not by a long shot. There is little due process in the court of public opinion. James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial."
"Given the growing political divide in this country, it's safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.
The letter concluded: "It is our hope that what has transpired can serve as an example for all of us to realise the enormous responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other regarding the use of our written words when we etch them in digital stone; that we as a society may learn from this experience and in the future we will think twice before we decide what we want to express; and in so learning perhaps can harness this capability to help and heal instead of hurting each other."
Alongside the statement, Pratt wrote: "Although I don't support James Gunn's inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man.
"I'd personally love to see him reinstated as director of Volume 3. If you please, read the following statement- signed by our entire cast."
Disney has not yet announced a replacement for Gunn, who had been working on the script for the franchise's third outing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to hit cinemas in 2020.
