Bobcat Goldthwait Asks Disney to Remove His Voice From Its Parks to Protest James Gunn Firing
Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait is protesting Disney’s decision to fire director James Gunn from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” by asking the studio behind Marvel to remove his affiliation with its theme park rides.
Gunn was ousted from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film on Friday after previous tweets of his were resurfaced that made light of controversial topics like pedophilia and rape.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Goldthwait defended his “loyal friend” and requested that Disney omit his voice from its “World of Color” attraction at California Adventure.
“I love James Gunn,” the comedian captioned a picture of himself and Gunn. “He’s a loyal friend, super talented, passionate and kind. I wanted to say something, here it is: Dear Disney, I would hate for you to come off as hypocritical, so I’m suggesting that you remove my voice from an attraction that’s coming to your park. It’s called WORLD OF COLOR – VILLAINOUS, and I reprise the tole of Pain, a role I played in Hercules.”
Goldthwait joins a number of people who have accused Disney of politically siding with followers of Donald Trump. Gunn, who has been vocal on social media about his criticism of the president, was targeted by the online right. Selma Blair, Dave Bautista, and Joe Carnahan are among celebrities who shared a Change.org petition with more than 168,000 signatures calling for Disney to rehire the director.
“You see here’s the deal,” Goldthwait continued. “Years ago I made a lot of sarcastically shocking and offensive jokes. Many that I’m embarrassed about now, and I’d hate to make you guys look bad seeing that I’m openly critical of the president and his administration, and you seem to be taking your lead from some of his radical fringe supporters.”
Disney released a statement on Friday explaining its choice to fire Gunn. “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,” Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said.
Gunn later shared his own statement in response to his exit, in which he said he “regretted” the tweets “because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.”
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