In the days since Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was fired by Disney for a slew of offensive, decade-old tweets, thousands of people has come to his defense, including co-workers, peers, journalists, and fans. Roseanne Barr, who was also fired from Disney/ABC for comments on Twitter, is not at all happy with the public’s response to Gunn’s situation.
Earlier this year, after the Roseanne revival on ABC became network TV’s most watched comedy, Barr was let go as star and executive producer of the series for her behavior on Twitter. The comedian had caused several stirs with her tweets in the past, but it was a racist comment about Valerie Jarrett that pushed her over the edge. Several hours after the tweet, ABC pulled the plug.
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While both Barr and Gunn were fired, the response to the two situations could not have been more different. Hordes of social media users celebrated Barr’s dismissal, while the majority of the entertainment industry has stood by Gunn, saying that he is a different man than he was eight years ago.
Barr took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to say that she was disgusted by the support Gunn has received over the past several days.
“I’m disgusted to read all of the support for James Gunn’s pedophile jokes – as the same people supported blacklisting me for a joke they didn’t even understand,” Barr wrote in the tweet.
I’m disgusted to read all of the support for James Gunn’s pedophile jokes-as the same people supported blacklisting me for a joke they didn’t even understand.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) July 24, 2018
Many who have stood by Gunn in this debate have argued that his words from 2011 and before don’t reflect the man he has become today. Sean Gunn, the director’s brother who also appears as Kraglin in the Guardians films, reminded people that the ability to grow into a better person is the entire point of Gunn’s work for Marvel.
9. So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
“So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it,” Sean wrote as part of a thread on Twitter. “They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self.”
Ahead of his firing, Gunn had already completed the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is set to arrive in 2020. Disney and Marvel have not yet revealed the strategy for replacing Gunn and continuing the franchise.
