After the official announcement that Disney was cutting ties with James Gunn and his involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the filmmaker has responded with regret over his offensive comments from earlier in his career.
“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative,” Gunn shared in a statement. “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.”
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He continued, “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.”
Gunn was an active member of Twitter, discussing topics from Guardians of the Galaxy to political matters. After making negative comments about Donald Trump, conservative bloggers dug through Gunn’s tweets to find multiple instances where Gunn made jokes regarding rape and pedophilia.
In 2009, the filmmaker tweeted, “The best thing about being raped is when you’re done being raped and it’s like ‘whew this feels great, not being raped!’” In 2011, Gunn shared the tweet, “I’m doing a big Hollywood film adaptation of The Giving Tree with a happy ending — the tree grows back and gives the kid a b—job.” The tweets have since been deleted.
The filmmaker attempted to apologize for the remarks in a series of tweets which concluded with the message, “I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.”
After the comments were brought to the attention of Disney, they issued the statement, “The offensive attitudes and statements on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”
Gunn was writing the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which is slated to land in theaters in 2020.
Stay tuned for details about the situation.
What do you think about Gunn’s recent remarks? Let us know in the comments below!
[H/T Deadline]
