Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn fired over offensive tweets
Disney has removed the 51-year-old from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Director James Gunn has been removed from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Disney have confirmed.
Tweets containing offensive jokes that the 51-year-old had sent came to light, prompting him to be fired from the Marvel franchise.
The material contained in the offending tweets appeared to make jokes about rape and paedophilia.
Responding online in a series of tweets, Gunn - who has written and directed both Guardians movies and has also worked on the Avengers franchise - said he "used to make a lot of offensive jokes" and that he was "very, very different than I was a few years ago".
Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said in a statement: "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible.
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"[They are] inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."
It has yet to be announced who will replace Gunn on the third Guardians film, which was reportedly due to be released in 2020.
