Calling the director one of 'the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met,' the actor tweets, 'I'm NOT ok with what's happening to him.'
- Jul 23, 2018
AceShowbiz - Dave Bautista has come to the defence of James Gunn after the director was fired from "Guardians Of The Galaxy 3".
Executives at Disney announced on Friday, July 20 that the filmmaker had been dropped as the director of the upcoming third instalment of the Marvel superhero series, after a string of offensive Twitter jokes written between 2008 and 2011 were unearthed by users, with many of the messages making light of sensitive subjects like rape and paedophilia.
Gunn has insisted that the old posts, which have since been deleted, were all intended as ill-conceived jokes, and Bautista, who stars as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy movies, has backed his former colleague.
"I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this... @JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met," the wrestler-turned-actor wrote on Twitter later on Friday. "He's gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He's made mistakes. We all have. I'm NOT ok with what's happening to him."
I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this..@JamesGunn is one of the most loving,caring,good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. Im NOT ok with what’s happening to him
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 21, 2018
David Dastmalchian, who plays Kurt in the Ant-Man series, took to Instagram to defend Gunn too.
"I've been saying this FOR YEARS! @jamesgunn is one of the most amazing people i've ever known - both professionally & personally (sic)," he wrote.
Following Disney's announcement, Gunn issued a statement in which he explained that he "regretted" the tweets in question and stressed that "they don't reflect" who he is today.
"Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then," the 51-year-old commented. "All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all."
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is slated for release in 2020.
