James Gunn Firing Leads To Potential Disney Boycott And Massive Online Petition
Yesterday as the Inquisitr reported, numerous celebrities reacted to the quick decision by Disney to fire James Gunn from directing the third entry to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Gunn previously directed Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as well.
Today, IndieWire is reporting that an online petition to get the director reinstated and allowed to continue production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is climbing, in terms of signature numbers, in rapid fashion. At the time of IndieWire’s original report, the number of signatures was at approximately 69,000. However, since that time, the number of signatures has climbed to approximately 86,000.
The petition was started on Change.org and has picked up serious momentum, though its creator seems to feel such a petition won’t change the decision by Disney, according to the statement preceding the rapidly-climbing signatures.
“I’m smart enough to know this most likely won’t change anything but hopefully, this could get Disney to realize the mistake they made and not do it again in the future.”
Although online petitions often do end up being fruitless, this petition comes alongside an overwhelming disapproval from a number of celebrities expressing what they feel is an unreasonable standard being set by Disney. The combination of celebrity reaction, the current petition, and hostile responses via social media sites like Twitter, put Disney under immense pressure to reverse the decision.
Numerous calls to boycott Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Disney itself have been picking up steam on Twitter as well.
Nice to know that @Disney can be manipulated by Nazi wannabes like admitted rapist @Cernovich. I guess @JamesGunn will have to make another studio a billion dollars. #RehireJamesGunn #boycottDisney
— A True Statesman (@ATrueStatesman) July 22, 2018
The controversial firing came after director James Gunn was shown, by Mike Cernovich, to have made some offensive tweets. Many of the tweets dated all the way back to 2009, while some even went back to 2008. The most recent of the offensive tweets appeared in 2012.
The tweets, which made references to rape and pedophilia, are being considered by many to have been tasteless jokes, and not an expression of Guardians director James Gunn’s literal values. An outpouring of support from celebrities followed the incident, with many of those celebrities asserting that James Gunn is a kind and caring person and that he is guilty of nothing more than making tasteless jokes.
Mike Cernovich originally stoked the flames via Twitter, according to HuffPost. Cernovich is an alt-right conspiracy theorist and social media personality. His contribution to the infamous “pizzagate” conspiracy has caused many to question his credibility. Mike Cernovich is a vehement supporter of President Donald Trump and in 2003 was charged with rape. Those charges were later reduced to battery, according to a 2016 report by The New Yorker.
“In 2003, he was accused of raping a woman he knew; the charge was later dropped, but a judge ordered him to do community service for misdemeanor battery. (His record has since been expunged.) On his first blog, which he started in 2004, he offered a libertarian critique of prosecutorial overreach, emphasizing free speech and false rap.”
Jame’s Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, recently wrote a long message supporting his brother, which appeared in a series of tweets via his official Twitter account, the first in the series being retweeted more than 20,000 times.
1. I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I'm quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
