‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ cast release statement in support of James Gunn

Marvel
Studios

• The main cast of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films
  released a statement on Monday in support of fired director
  James Gunn.
• Many, including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, said they
  would like to see him reinstated for the third “Guardians”
  movie.
• Gunn was fired this month over resurfaced offensive
  tweets from years ago.

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The cast of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films released a
statement on Monday in support of fired director James Gunn, and
many, including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, said they would like
to see him rehired.

Disney fired Gunn this month
after offensive tweets from years ago resurfaced online. Gunn had
addressed and apologized for the tweets in the past, but after
conservative personalities led an outpouring of backlash against
the director, Disney severed its business relationship with Gunn.

Many have come to Gunn’s defense since,
and a petition online for Disney to rehire
him has over 300,000 signatures. But most of the cast has been
careful in fully addressing the situation — until now.

The cast released a statement in the form of a letter on Monday,
which was signed by every member of the main cast of the two
“Guardians” films: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista,
Michael Rooker, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Pom
Klementieff, and Karen Gillan. 

The letter stated that they “fully support James Gunn” and being
in the films has “been a great honor in each of our lives.”

They said that they didn’t support Gunn’s tweets, but “the
character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent
with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and
from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is
from the heart.”

“Each of us looks forward to working with our friend James again
in the future,” the letter stated.

It continued: “Given the growing political divide in this
country, it’s safe to say instances like this will continue,
although we hope Americans from across all political spectrums
can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing
mob mentality.”

The full letter is below:

While the letter doesn’t explicitly state that the cast supports
Disney rehiring Gunn, many have tweeted that they wish to see him
reinstated, including Pratt, Saldana, and Bautista.