Disney fires James Gunn for past offensive Tweets (1 Viewer)

[dpippel]

James Gunn has been fired by Disney/Marvel over old tweets referring to rape and pedophilia:

https://deadline.com/2018/07/james-...he-galaxy-disney-offensive-tweets-1202430392/

Wow.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Lamb to the slaughter. They knew about these tweets, he's already apologized about them. But gotta get the merger done!

 

[Sean Bryan]

James Gunn has been fired by Disney/Marvel over old tweets referring to rape and pedophilia:

https://deadline.com/2018/07/james-...he-galaxy-disney-offensive-tweets-1202430392/

Wow.

I just saw this.

I’m disgusted. Not at “offensive” statements made by a someone in the past who has described himself (in that time period) as a “provocateur” but by the increasingly hypersensitive word police culture we are devolving into.

Sad.

 

[Sean Bryan]

My personal hope for a replacement would be the Russos. Don’t know if it is doable for them, but I think they’d be the best fit.

Taika Watiti could be appropriate, but I personally don’t think his style is the best fit. The Russo’s have already shown that they can do this group perfectly.

Still, this is just terrible for Gunn. He wasn’t just some gun for hire on these. These movies were his passion. He poured his heart and soul into them. I hope they at least keep his script for V3.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The bizarre thing about this is that it isn't some terrible past transgression that has only now come to light. His original comments were publicly available when Marvel hired him. If Disney really felt the tweets were inconsistent with its values, they shouldn't have hired him in the first place.

The only thing that has changed is that a handful of news outlets decided now to make a big deal out of them.

 

[TravisR]

The only thing that has changed is that a handful of news outlets decided now to make a big deal out of them.

Plus, there's a gaping asshole of a human being that is behind this campaign purely to punish Gunn for his political views. He ran the same con against Sam Seder which caused MSNBC to fire and then rehire Seder. I think Disney is just scared of a Roseanne situation so they immediately fired Gunn and once they realizes that they're listening to a tinfoil hat wearing Nazi bastard, they'll rehire Gunn.

 

[WillG]

Plus, there's a gaping asshole of a human being that is behind this campaign purely to punish Gunn for his political views. He ran the same con against Sam Seder which caused MSNBC to fire and then rehire Seder. I think Disney is just scared of a Roseanne situation so they immediately fired Gunn and once they realizes that they're listening to a tinfoil hat wearing Nazi bastard, they'll rehire Gunn.

Both sides do it.

I’d recommend not making politically divisive comments on a visible social media platform unless you’re pretty damn sure your house is in order.

 

[Sam Favate]

This is very upsetting. Gunn's movies were some of the very best in the Marvel film canon. They have their own unique personality and voice, not to mention that he handpicked the music that was used so effectively in them.

It's really pitiful that someone couldn't leave well enough alone simply because the man disagreed with his politics. That's not a defense of the old tweets, which were in bad taste any way you look at them, but they don't reflect the present.

I thought Gunn would have a long career in films, and not just at Marvel. I hope he gets the chance to make more films. And that Marvel uses his GOTG3 script.

 

[WillG]

This is very upsetting. Gunn's movies were some of the very best in the Marvel film canon. They have their own unique personality and voice, not to mention that he handpicked the music that was used so effectively in them.

It's really pitiful that someone couldn't leave well enough alone simply because the man disagreed with his politics. That's not a defense of the old tweets, which were in bad taste any way you look at them, but they don't reflect the present.

I thought Gunn would have a long career in films, and not just at Marvel. I hope he gets the chance to make more films. And that Marvel uses his GOTG3 script.

Not trying to be a dick, but to ask, what was your opinion on, say, on Paula Deen getting fired for things she said in her past?

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Plus, there's a gaping asshole of a human being that is behind this campaign purely to punish Gunn for his political views. He ran the same con against Sam Seder which caused MSNBC to fire and then rehire Seder. I think Disney is just scared of a Roseanne situation so they immediately fired Gunn and once they realizes that they're listening to a tinfoil hat wearing Nazi bastard, they'll rehire Gunn.

Exactly. Gunn standing up for common decency in this world riling up the heckles of utter scum I guess was to be expected. He perhaps should have more publicly got in front of his readily available past. I hope that the core cast of GotG stand up for him some kind of way and that Disney is forced to reconsider their action today.

 

[WillG]

Exactly. Gunn standing up for common decency in this world riling up the heckles of utter scum I guess was to be expected. He perhaps should have more publicly got in front of his readily available past. I hope that the core cast of GotG stand up for him some kind of way and that Disney is forced to reconsider their action today.

This is where this whole thing gets infuriating. And it’s a complete double standard. What I take from this is that just because Gunn, In your opinion plays for the “correct” team, he should be given a pass. I won’t make accusations but I suspect you wouldn’t have an issue with someone you don’t personally respect being fired over those same tweets.

If, as a society we’re going to have these types of rules they have to be applied equally. Personally, I’d prefer for all of us to calm the hell down and stop being so outraged at everything. We’ve all done stupid things in our past, we’ve all said things we don’t really mean.

 

[TravisR]

Both sides do it.

I’d recommend not making politically divisive comments on a visible social media platform unless you’re pretty damn sure your house is in order.

There's no correlation between the two though. Criticizing the government isn't limited only to people who have never said something fucked up before. It's also worth noting that Disney was well aware of it when they hired him. I still think that once they look into the person who stirred this up, they're going to rehire Gunn and he'll give the requisite "I've grown as a person, these were terrible things I said, blah blah blah" apology.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

This is where this whole thing gets infuriating. And it’s a complete double standard. What I take from this is that just because Gunn, In your opinion plays for the “correct” team, he should be given a pass. I won’t make accusations but I suspect you wouldn’t have an issue with someone you don’t personally respect being fired over those same tweets.

If, as a society we’re going to have these types of rules they have to be applied equally. Personally, I’d prefer for all of us to calm the hell down and stop being so outraged at everything. We’ve all done stupid things in our past, we’ve all said things we don’t really mean.

I'm not sure how my feeling that Gunn met with a raw deal here is related to how I might feel about others that you are more politically aligned with. And your suspicions are wrong. If James Woods, who still says incredibly dumb and troublesome things, was in Gunn's shoes, I don't think I'd support him being fired from a film. Woods hasn't evolved (he's actually gotten worse), but I wouldn't support him being fired for jokes. If his behavior had negatively impacted cast/crew, that's a different story. Not all instances are equal, and so I judge each on the case itself, not whether I am ideologically aligned with said person.

There are right-wing douchebags that have received a raw deal, does that help? So, in this case, Gunn said stupid things but has not caused unfair working environments, demonstrated bigotry, impeded equal rights. He was trying to be funny and made tasteless, poor, indefensible jokes in the past. I think Marvel should have punished him, but not by firing him.

Everyone has the capacity to change. To evolve, to become a better person. EVERYONE. Gunn clearly had, others (Rosanne, for example) clearly haven't.

 

[WillG]

There's no correlation between the two though. Criticizing the government isn't limited only to people who have never said something fucked up before. It's also worth noting that Disney was well aware of it when they hired him. I still think that once they look into the person who stirred this up, they're going to rehire Gunn and he'll give the requisite "I've grown as a person, these were terrible things I said, blah blah blah" apology.

But it’s got nothing to do with correlation. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I’m thinking you are seemingly talking about this like it’s a 1st amendment issue. It isn’t. Gunn can criticize the government all he wants but others are free to cull his offensive tweets.

And if Disney knew about his past tweets and only cared about them when they got MSM attention, then that’s shameful on them too.

 

[joshEH]

Frankly, Gunn was a fool to keep some of those posts up. With all of the #MeToo stuff and other celebs who have been busted recently, he should have thought about what he had posted, even if "years ago." If anybody hasn't read the tweets, they should. They aren't just a few dick-jokes:

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1020229342549413890/

Thing is, I have no problem in theory with Gunn saying this crap to his buddies, but knowing that you work for freakin' DISNEY and having this stuff still out there online was absolutely asinine (as Harlan Ellison might've attested). After Twitter and Facebook started becoming a huge thing, as a public school teacher, I went back and spent hours and hours carefully scrubbing my online profiles clean of absolutely anything that might even remotely place my career in jeopardy, should anyone decide to look. Not that I had anything approaching most of Gunn's stuff (though I do share much of his sick, twisted sense of humor), but damn.

Yes, I may have Facebook-posted the odd irreverent remark or two back at the turn of the decade and mid-aughts when social media was a nerdy niche-thing which wasn't taken as seriously as it is now. But it's truly remarkable that Gunn's people in recent times didn't get someone to do a thorough cleanup-job. Right now in Hollywood as I type this, I'll bet there are suddenly LOTS of folks doing that.

 

[TravisR]

But it’s got nothing to do with correlation. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I’m thinking you are seemingly talking about this like it’s a 1st amendment issue. It isn’t. Gunn can criticize the government all he wants but others are free to cull his offensive tweets.

I'm not referring to the 1st Amendment at all. I read your post as saying that Gunn shouldn't tweet things that people may disagree with because he's said messed up things himself. I disagree with that because one has nothing to do with the other.

And if Disney knew about his past tweets and only cared about them when they got MSM attention, then that’s shameful on them too.

It's an absolute certainty that they did. In today's world, there's no way that a person gets that kind of gig without Disney lawyers looking at everything word they've ever said on social media to make sure that there'd be no craziness that came up somewhere down the road. They were aware of it, understood that he was trying to be shocking and funny (he was neither in my opinion) and still hired him because they knew he's talented and that he had more sense than to do the same stupid unfunny thing again.

Frankly, Gunn was a fool to keep some of those posts up.

I agree but I guess you can give him some credit for not trying to pretend like they never happened. He's also not going for the "Someone must have hacked my account back then!" which is always popular when a celebrity gets caught for some old tweets.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Some of Gunn's tweets are indefensible, but it's worth remembering that he was working for Troma at the time, a production company that delights in exploring the indefensible.

What sets this apart from other controversies for me is that the tweets were public knowledge, Gunn had already apologized for them in the past, and shown by his subsequent behavior that he meant the apology.

Contrast this with the Roseanne situation, where her behavior consistently demonstrated that her apologies meant nothing and that she hadn't grown at all as a person. Roseanne represented an ongoing risk to her employer's reputation, an employer that was dependent on advertisers who no longer wanted to be associated with her.

Gunn said some really gross and inapproriate things, but the risk that he would continue to create new problems for Disney was nil.

As a private employer Disney is of course well within its rights to terminate its association with Gunn. Given parents' trust in Disney as a family-safe brand, it very well might have been the right move for the Walt Disney Company as a whole. On the other hand, I think its subsidiary unit Marvel Studios loses a lot more than it gains by dumping Gunn. There are going to be a lot of fans very upset to see one of the more interesting and vibrant voices within the MCU kicked to the curb after two very well-received movies. More, I think, than would be newly outraged by these decade old tweets.

 

[Sam Favate]

Not trying to be a dick, but to ask, what was your opinion on, say, on Paula Deen getting fired for things she said in her past?

That's a fair question, but, really, let's not get into it here. I value HTF as a non-political sanctuary, a place I can visit that unlike the rest of the world - online and off - doesn't have to be divisive because we don't talk politics. It seems that these days all we have to do is know someone's political affiliation to accept or dismiss everything they say. I don't care which side you're on, but that's wrong.

I'm very saddened by what happened to Gunn. I have found him to be not only a very talented film maker but a very honest and open person. He devoted many hours to answering fans questions about everything under the sun, something many of his contemporaries don't do. I enjoyed his love of animals, his affection for his partner and his clear love of making movies. That doesn't mean everything he's done in his past is acceptable. I'd argue that if we look at anyone long enough, we'll find things we don't like. One of my heroes, John Lennon, was open to a fault. He lived his life very much in the public eye and when he made a mistake, he said so. I still think there is more to like about John Lennon (and James Gunn) than not.

 

[Robert Crawford]

James Gunn has been fired by Disney/Marvel over old tweets referring to rape and pedophilia:

https://deadline.com/2018/07/james-...he-galaxy-disney-offensive-tweets-1202430392/

Wow.

Well, he's far from being the last one that's going down for making such comments. We're only in the first couple of chapters in this book. One thing I do know is that people have been and continue to be really stupid with their public comments whether through social media or any other method. It's time to get smart people.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Let's leave politics out of this discussion. Any further attempts to bring politics into this discussion will be deleted and further disciplinary action is possible.

Gunn made the comments now he has to deal with the consequences. The same with Disney, they now have to deal with the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, the court of public opinion is always in session to judge and then convict you.