Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn fired for rape joke tweets

James Gunn was set to direct the third movie

Director James Gunn has been fired from the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie after offensive tweets resurfaced. The tweets were from 2008 and 2009, and cover topics including rape, paedophilia and 9/11. One tweet, quoted by The Guardian, read: “The best thing about being raped is when you’re done being raped and it’s like ‘whew this feels great, not being raped!’” The tweets were brought to light by right wing site the Daily Caller. Gunn has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, calling him “a national crisis with an incompetent president”. Several high-profile names have defended Gunn, including Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the Guardians films. https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1020502763430559744 And comedian Patton Oswald criticised Mike Cernovich, the right wing alt-right personality who drew attention to the tweets in question. https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1020405488029192193 A statement from Alan Horn, the Walt Disney studios chairman, said: “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.” Gunn tweeted an apology. https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1020154777525575682 https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1020154779169783808 https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1020154780012834816 Gunn directed both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and was set to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is due in 2020.