Disney Fires 'Guardian of the Galaxy' Director Over Offensive Tweets
July 20 2018 - 8:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Fritz
Walt Disney Co. on Friday severed its relationship with James
Gunn, who previously directed two "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies
for its Marvel Studios unit that together grossed $1.64 billion. He
was expected to soon start work on a third.
The move came after The Daily Caller website and online critics
resurfaced tweets written between 2008 and 2012 by Mr. Gunn, before
he worked for Marvel, in which he made sexually explicit jokes,
including some about children.
"The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James's
Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's
values," Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.
Mr. Gunn in a statement said his tweets were "stupid, not at all
funny, wildly insensitive" and "don't reflect the person I am
today." He added that "I understand and accept the business
decisions taken today" by Disney.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 20, 2018 19:47 ET (23:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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