FIRED BEFORE THE FACTS MATTERED

In July 2018, offensive tweets written years earlier by filmmaker James Gunn were recirculated online. Gunn had posted them between 2008 and 2012 while cultivating a deliberately provocative public persona.

The jokes concerned subjects including abuse, rape and the Holocaust. They were crude and indefensible. Gunn did not deny writing them. He apologised, accepted responsibility and said they no longer represented the person he had become.

Disney fired him from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 almost immediately.

The decision did not follow an allegation that Gunn had committed abuse or any other criminal offence. There was no investigation into real-world misconduct. A collection of old jokes was treated as sufficient evidence that he could no longer direct one of Hollywood's largest franchises.

The cancellation extended beyond one film. Sony withdrew Brightburn, which Gunn had produced, from its Comic-Con presentation. His future within mainstream Hollywood appeared uncertain.

Those who had worked with him offered a different account. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and the remaining Guardians cast signed an open letter supporting his reinstatement. They criticised his previous jokes but said the public campaign had ignored Gunn's conduct during the years since.

Disney initially stood by the dismissal.

Eight months later, it reversed its decision. Gunn was reinstated as writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Reports said Disney chairman Alan Horn had been persuaded by Gunn's apology and his conduct after being fired.

Gunn subsequently directed The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros and was appointed co-chairman and co-chief executive of DC Studios.

The tweets were real. The question was whether they justified permanent professional exclusion without regard to context, time, apology or subsequent behaviour.

Disney's reversal supplied its answer. The person it had declared unsuitable to direct one superhero film was soon entrusted with an entire rival superhero studio.

The cancellation required days. Reconsideration required eight months.

SOURCES