Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt has been relatively quiet since the firing of director James Gunn last month over years-old offensive tweets, but now he’s opened up about his own feelings, admitting “it’s not an easy time” for the cast.
“I was a little shocked, like everybody,” he told The Associated Press. “And it was crazy timing, with Comic-Con. … I love going to Comic-Con, but I ended up not doing a lot of interviews around that time, just because it was so shocking.”
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The tweets, which largely dated from between 2008 and 2012, were unearthed by some of Gunn’s right-wing detractors, and promoted by alt-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich. Gunn apologized for his inappropriate comments about rape and pedophilia, attributing them to a time when he viewed himself as a provocateur.
Pratt also referenced a letter written in support of Gunn and signed by the Guardians of the Galaxy cast. “We put a lot of time, thought and effort into the statement that we released about it, and I think we all kind of want that statement to be essentially what we have to say about it.”
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Several celebrities have spoken out against Disney’s decision to fire Gunn, and a fan petition to reinstate him as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has attracted more than 380,000 supporters. Drax actor Dave Bautista has gone so far as to say he would ask to be released from his contract if Gunn’s script isn’t used for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, originally planned to begin shooting in January.
Pratt’s response was more cautious, although he made it clear his friendship with Gunn was intact. “We all love James and he’s a good friend of ours,” he wrote in late July. “But we also really love playing the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a complicated situation for everybody.”
Although I don’t support James Gunn’s inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man. I’d personally love to see him reinstated as director of Volume 3. If you please, read the… https://t.co/FWBXkZilB7
— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 30, 2018
Asked if he still hoped that Gunn could be rehired, Pratt again referred to his previous statements, saying, “Well, if you go on my Twitter feed, you can see if the post is still tweeted, and if it is, I think, that will be what I have to say about it.”
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