Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana Speak Out Amid James Gunn Fallout

Guardians of the Galaxy franchise stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan are the latest to speak out amid the fallout from the firing of James Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In a rather cryptic tweet that did not mention Gunn by name or the controversy but believed by many fans to be directed at Gunn’s ouster, Pratt wrote, “’Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.’ JAMES 1:19.” The message was followed by prayer hands and a heart emoji.

Saldana was more direct in addressing the situation. “It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term,” she wrote. “I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.”

Gillan wrote over two tweets, “Love to every single member of my GOTG family” followed by “Just to clarify, I’ll speak more on this later but just wanted to make sure that was out there. Love to you all.”

Pratt, Saldana and Gillan’s tweets followed messages of support over the weekend from Guardians’ star Sean Gunn, James Gunn’s brother and Dave Bautista. “It goes without saying that I love and support my brother,” Sean Gunn wrote. He also asserts that “working on these movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I’m proud of that.”

Meanwhile, a change.org petition to calling for the rehiring of the filmmaker continues to add thousands of signatures. As of this morning, more than 187,000 signatures had been obtained, moving quickly to its goal of 200,000.

James Gunn was fired Friday after Fox News and other right-wing media outlets unearthed some old social media posts from the filmmaker on subjects that touched on rape and pedophilia. Gunn claimed that the old tweets were just taboo jokes. Conservative media resurfaced Gunn’s old posts in an effort to knock him down since he’s an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

The tweets by Saldana, Pratt, Gillan and Sean Gunn follow below:

It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.

— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 22, 2018

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

JAMES 1:19
🙏♥️

— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018

Love to every single member of my GOTG family.

— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018

Just to clarify, I'll speak more on this later but just wanted to make sure that was out there. Love to you all.

— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018

1. I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I'm quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

2. Since he was a kid, it was clear he had a desire (maybe destiny) to be an artist, tell stories, find his voice through comics, films, his band. The struggle to find that voice was sometimes clunky, misguided, or downright stupid, and sometimes wonderful, moving, and hilarious.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

3. Since devoting his entire life to the Guardians movies and MCU six years ago, I've seen him channel that voice into his work on those movies and seen him transform from the guy who made up things to shock people.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

4. I saw firsthand as he went from worrying about "softening his edge" for a larger audience to realizing that his "edge" wasn't as useful of a tool as he thought it was. That his gift for storytelling was something better.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

6. In many respects this change in my brother was reflected in the change that the Guardians go through. I've heard my brother say many times that when Quill rallies the team with "this is our chance to give a shit"–to care–that it's the pep talk he himself needed to hear.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

7. It's part of what made working on the Guardians movies such a rewarding experience for the cast, myself included. We managed to find ourselves involved in a big-budget superhero movie that was, at its core, deeply personal. That's a gift. And that's why it's good.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

8. This isn't new information, by the way. It's all stuff that James has explained many times in interviews, in more detail and more eloquently. It's not some new spin. It's always been part of the story.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

9. So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018

10. Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I'm proud of that. Peace.

— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018