Bobcat Goldthwait Asks to Be Removed From Disney Parks Attraction After James Gunn Firing

The fallout continues after Disney's firing of James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director chair as yet another celebrity has taken to social media to voice anger at the move and calling on Disney for corrective action. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait posted a lengthy message on Instagram, in which he advises Disney to remove his Hercules character from one of its theme parks:

I love @jamesgunn. He’s a loyal friend, super talented, passionate and kind. I wanted to say something, here it is: Dear @disney, I would hate for you to come off as hypocritical so I’m suggesting that you remove my voice from an attraction that’s coming to your park. It’s called WORLD OF COLOR - VILLAINOUS, and I reprise the role of Pain, a role I played in HERCULES. You see here’s the deal, years ago I made a lot of sarcastically shocking and offensive jokes. Many that I’m embarrassed about now, and I’d hate to make you guys look bad seeing that I’m openly critical of the president and his administration, and you seem to be taking your lead from some of his radical fringe supporters. I think James Woods may have recorded a voice for this new attraction, too. Why not check out some of his whacky past tweets?! They’re a hoot! For the record I do stand with survivors of sexual abuse and I was wondering if you guys are still making money off of your movie POWDER? Asking for a friend. Thanks, Bobcat

A post shared by Bobcat Goldthwait (@bobcatgoldthwait) on Jul 22, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

There's so much shade thrown in this post that it it needs an extensive breakdown. First, Goldthwait deftly points out that Gunn may not be the only one on Disney's cinematic payroll to have some inappropriate comments floating around in his/her past. He then moves on to pointing out the political motivations that were behind these tweets of Gunn's being dug up in the first place, and how there are certainly other big names associated with Disney (like Goldthwait's Hercules co-star James Woods) who have made some pretty questionable statements on the other side of the political spectrum. He even raises question of where Disney is aligning itself in this current political tug-of-war by firing Gunn. Finally, Goldthwait dips way back into the '90s to bring up the case of Powder, the strange drama film that was directed by convicted child sex abuse offender, Victor Salva. Taken altogether its more of an eclipse than the usual shade.

The political ties to this incident with Gunn have been somewhat lost in the cacophony of other viewpoints and social justice issues that people have been projecting on the matter. Gunn has been an outspoken proponent of very liberal and progressive political views - not to mention a very vocal and confrontational Twitter opponent of public figures connected to the current Trump administration. The initial outcry about Gunn's Twitter past came from users associated with alt-right and/or MAGA groups, which asserted that right-wing figures are vilified for making such statements, while the liberals supposedly give free pass to figures like Gunn. In that sense, Disney's firing of Gunn has been seen as a political statement, as much as a business-related one. Gunn himself has supported Disney's decision on the business front, but clearly the political points are from settled in the realm of public opinion.