‘Star Wars’ Director Rian Johnson Deletes 20,000 Tweets After James Gunn Firing in ‘Why Not?’ Move
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson says purging his Twitter feed of 20,000 tweets seemed like a “why not?” move after the firing of James Gunn over his past tweets.
On Tuesday, The Mary Sue tweeted a story that said, “it’s also possible that Disney has issued some sort of directive to their talent about social media post-Gunn situation, suggesting caution or deletion.” In response, Johnson tweeted, “No official directive at all, and I don’t think I’ve ever tweeted anything that bad. But it’s nine years of stuff written largely off the cuff as ephemera, if trolls scrutinizing it for ammunition is the new normal, this seems like a ‘why not?’ move.”
No official directive at all, and I don’t think I’ve ever tweeted anything that bad. But it’s nine years of stuff written largely off the cuff as ephemera, if trolls scrutinizing it for ammunition is the new normal, this seems like a “why not?” move.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) July 25, 2018
A fan followed up asking if there is a simple way to delete so many tweets at one time, to which Johnson responded, “There are apps that do it literally with the flip of a switch.”
Also Read: Roseanne 'Disgusted' by James Gunn Defenders: 'The Same People Supported Blacklisting Me'
According to Comicbook.com, Johnson deleted all of his posts prior to January 25th of this year. YouTube channel “John talks Star Wars” said he deleted more than 20,000 tweets, declining from 22,300 tweets to now 1,144.
Disney dismissed Gunn last week for jokes he made on Twitter years ago about subjects including rape and pedophilia. Gunn apologized for the “offensive” tweets from nearly a decade ago.
Also Read: Chris Pratt Goes Biblical in James Gunn Comments
The anti-Gunn push was started by right-wing Twitter figure Mike Cernovich, who came to prominence helping drive Twitter campaigns such as #PizzaGate, the conspiracy theory that posited Democrats were running a child sex slavery ring out of a pizza parlor, and GamerGate, which mostly harassed women in the video games and media industries.
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