The Guardians of the Galaxy cast, including Hollywood stars Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, have all signed an open letter defending director James Gunn after he was removed from the Marvel franchise.
Pratt posted the letter - which included the signatures of actors Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Vin Diesel - in defence of the director, who was fired following social media backlash to inappropriate tweets posted by Gunn years ago.
The letter addresses the "mob mentality" formed across the political spectrum that led to his firing.
In the Instagram post to his 21 million followers, Chris Pratt condemned the jokes made by his now former director but called for Gunn to be reinstated for "Volume 3" of The Guardians of the Galaxy because he is a "good man".
Gunn has apologised for the tweets, posted almost a decade ago, where he joked about topics such as rape.
"Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor," he wrote in a Twitter thread.
"It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.
"In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies."
A petition to reinstate Gunn on Change.org has reached nearly 350,000 signatures.
In this Nov. 11, 2017 file photo, director James Gunn arrives at the 9th annual Governors Awards in Los Angeles. Source: AAP
