Actors and actresses have been coming forward in support of Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn, calling for his reinstatement as director for the third installment of the franchise after some offensive tweets resurfaced, and now the film’s star Chris Pratt has weighed in, reports The Hollywood Reporter . The popular star posted an open letter from the cast and crew in support of Gunn to his Instagram account. He included the following caption with the letter.
“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 following statement- signed by our entire cast.”
The open letter from the cast comes 10 days after their director’s firing, which they state was done on purpose, hoping to use the time to reflect on what has happened, to “think, pray, listen, and discuss” with each other the right way to address it. They mentioned that during that time, they were encouraged by the outpouring of support by fans as well as members of the media. Unfortunately, they were also disappointed by how many were “duped” into believing the “outlandish conspiracy theories” that were being bandied around about Gunn.
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Those long-ago tweets, which had the director joking about controversial topics such as pedophilia and rape, were unearthed by conservative personalities, which led the cast to reference the way political discourse in this country has been so divisive.
“There is little due process in the court of public opinion. James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial. Given the growing political divide in this country, it’s safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.”
They went on to wish that people will be more thoughtful about their online discourse, considering how these thoughts can have a lasting impact and perhaps it would be better to be more kind.
As for Pratt, he has other things taking up his attention besides the fight to keep the director he greatly respects and admires. The newly single actor has been seen about town — or at least at church — with Katherine Schwarzenegger, Arnold and Maria’s daughter, reports TMZ . Snaps of the two kissing were on TMZ , which also showed they were out with his son, Jack, from his marriage to Anna Faris.