Movies

Hollywood Stars Defend James Gunn From 'Cyber Nazi' Lynch Mob

Guardians of the Galaxy actors say there's more to the man than his old tweets.

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BT1/Brian To/WENN/Newscom

The stars of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise have come to the defense of director James Gunn, whom Disney fired from the films on Friday after right-wing trolls dug up some of his ill-advised Twitter jokes from years ago.

The tweets from Gunn, who directed the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films, involved violence and sexual assault against children. They're disgusting, but they were clearly intended as gags. Making them an issue now is an act of pure retaliation against the left (Gunn is a liberal), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the Guardians films, said on Twitter on Friday that Gunn is a "gentle and kind" person. Although he admitted that Gunn has "made mistakes," he said he's "NOT ok with what's happening" to the director. In a pair of follow-up posts, Bautista called out the "cybernazis" responsible for getting Gunn fired:

Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord, didn't directly reference Gunn, but the implicit meaning of the Bible verse he tweeted out Sunday was clear: "'Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.' JAMES 1:19."

And Zoe Saldana, who stars as Gamora, was sure to point out that she loves "ALL" the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy family:

Guardians stars weren't the only ones who expressed their support for Gunn. Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland and filmmaker Fede Alvarez also wrote that the director deserves better.

Actress Selma Blair even shared a Change.org petition urging Disney to rehire Gunn. As of Monday afternoon, more than 200,000 people had signed it.

Gunn, for his part, has apologized for the old tweets.