You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Well kind of
James Gunn has not been shy about criticizing Trump
So some of trump's alt-right fanboys dug up his 8 year old tweets where he made a lot of paedo jokes, so now Disney have fired him, he'd just started writing GOTG 3, apparently some of the actors are now looking for a way out too.
Obvs Gunn made these jokes, though this was already raked over a few years ago & he did make his start at Troma, which is pretty much the anti-disney studio!
Offending tweets...
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1020229342549413890?s=19
This is the new mccarthyism at work.
I thought his response was one of the better ones, pretty much "I was trying very hard to be shocking and funny and didn't manage either, I'm a bellend".
Pfft, snowflakes!
Social media is such a bunch of dirty hairy ass crack isn't it?
It’s the New Puritanism - the lurking feeling that someone, somewhere, is having fun.
And the overwhelming desire to stop them at all costs.
It's utterly disgraceful: Some guy cracks a couple of [bad] jokes and 10 years later is sacked because of it. There's definitely something fishy about this.
I'm just surprised that Disney hadn't done due diligence on his social media output. I bet they'll be balancing that with plausible deniability on the rest of their high profile workforce now though.
indeed, Disney makes more money than many countries GDPs
they can afford some researchers & Im sure they did their due dilligence, they knew who they were buying into, but GOTG2 made $415m from the film alone
OK, bit confused here- just to confirm, most of the above posters are initimating that he shouldn't have been fired and are offering up various reasons for that?
You think he should be fired?
Well at least they stopped the pretence of framing the argument as "the left would be calling for him to be fired if he was right wing" so there is progress of a kind.
You think he should be fired?
Yeah, publicly known guy who posts over the line jokes on social media- can't be kept, certainly not by major corporation.
Would you like it if someone went to your employer, pointed out that you made some bad jokes 10 years ago, that they didn’t like, and have you fired over it? Even though you weren’t working for that company at the time? And that most likely the company knew you had made those jokes, but were previously ok with it, possibly even hired you because of those jokes, and ones like them?
How do we know they are jokes? Asking as I've read them as they are presented in the first link and I'm not seeing them as obvious jokes...I'm hoping they are and it has backfired but what makes us sure they are? Really not good attempts.
How do we know they are jokes?
No, you are right, they are obviously to be taken literally. String him up.
Err......If not poor attempts at jokes what else would they be? I admit it would be much easier for police to catch child molesters if they posted updates on Twitter.
He shouldn’t have been fired bearing in mind that Disney regularly employ actors who have been accused of and seen to conduct themselves in unsavoury ways.
Yeah, publicly known guy who posts over the line jokes on social media- can’t be kept, certainly not by major corporation.
Don’t the makers of South Park pretty much do that for a living? All whilst working for a large corporation.
possibly even hired you because of those jokes, and ones like them?
Bit of a stretch with Disney, isn't it?
I think people should be accountable for what they say and have said in the past, but to what degree that diminishes with time is the question. Valid mitigation can be made for context, naivety and generally being young IMO but it's never clear cut and always subjective.
The problem is you have to have an individual and a corporation that feels constrained (or needs to appear to be) by normal social mores for them to be affected by this. The utterly shameless will continue to grab 'em by the pussy and boast about it with impunity.
How do we know they are jokes? Asking as I’ve read them as they are presented in the first link and I’m not seeing them as obvious jokes
FFS! They're clearly jokes, shit ones but obviously not serious.
Bit of a stretch with Disney, isn’t it?
Im sure even the best, most savoury of comedians have some work that is not of their normal standard.
I agree, utterly terrible jokes with no humour. Given the way the US is just now, I'm asking as I suspect there are many people there who wouldn't see them as jokes at all...which is why I asked. We are all smart enough to realise they are and to recognise how poor they are, but there are plenty of people who won't.
Given the way the US is just now
These were written between 6 and 10 years ago.
Given the way the US is just now, I’m asking as I suspect there are many people there who wouldn’t see them as jokes at all
Oh you were asking for an American friend.
Nope, I was asking to try to make people think about it. We all recognise it as poor attempts at jokes. Irrespective of when they were posted, he is being judged now, so it is today's US climate that has decided he is fired.
So no one should do or say anything now that might become/be interpreted as offensive to anyone, or their associates or made to look that way with some red marker pen, within their working lives?
Good job he wasn’t Scottish. He’d be on trial for a hate crime.
Well at least they stopped the pretence of framing the argument as “the left would be calling for him to be fired if he was right wing” so there is progress of a kind.
Oh, I certianly can’t imagine the left digging up comments that people had made years ago and making a big fuss out of them, calling for people to be sacked... would never happen, would it?
He made very inappropriate comments (jokes?) about paedophilia on social media and is working for a company whose business model is to sell films and merchandise in the main to children it was right that he should have been sacked, his position is untenable. Whats the problem here?
Oh, I certianly can’t imagine the left digging up comments that people had made years ago and making a big fuss out of them, calling for people to be sacked… would never happen, would it?
You seem confused about the character you are playing today and their comprehension of the English language. D- must try harder.
Irrespective of if it is right or wrong for him to get sacked..........
I've never watched a GOTG - is anything worth watching from a mind that generates those comments as 'humour'? I'm not even judging it by its taste just it's lack of humour/intelligence. I'm assuming he is an intelligent bloke otherwise to have had the success he has, but most of that reads like it's from the keyboard of a slightly dysfunctional 15 year old. This is obviously heavily filtered - has he posted anything worth reading at other times?
The only good thing that will come from this is a high profile person being given the boot for crass comments posted online making the great unwashed think a little before contributing to the shitfest that is social media. We've lost a couple of staff here for similar - some people are just too stupid for their own good.
I’ve never watched a GOTG – is anything worth watching from a mind that generates those comments as ‘humour’?
Yeah, both films are hilarious. Weirdly, no child molesting jokes, but ho hum.
Trump is far more powerful than I could have imagined.
He has gone back in time and made a whole bunch of correctly spelt tweets on someone else's twitter, making them look a bit nonce-y and rape-y.
Trump is far more powerful than I could have imagined
So if someone mocked a disabled reporter, or had made racist comments years ago I guess they should be fired too?
Oh, I certianly can’t imagine the left digging up comments that people had made years ago and making a big fuss out of them, calling for people to be sacked… would never happen, would it?
Obvious troll is obvious. And so very, very predictable. #rollseyes
I've seen people on here go to people's employers to grass them up for something they said/wrote.
working for a company whose business model is to sell films and merchandise in the main to children it was right that he should have been sacked, his position is untenable. Whats the problem here?
Jonny Depp, Robert Downey Jr and others also work for the same company. Should they too be sacked for previous, very public, behaviour or is it just the ones you don’t see who write things on Twitter?
Just checking for an American friend.
The question is why are you and others defending comments/jokes about paedophilia, really what is wrong with you?
Obvious troll is obvious. And so very, very predictable.
The thing is, it isn't actually trolling to point out that Gunn has been hoisted on the left's own petard of puritanism and that there are a lot of people whinging about this that would have been rubbing their thighs with a frisson of sexual delight had <span style="text-decoration: underline;">exactly</span> the same thing happened to someone of a different political leaning.
Though it could be uncomfortable of those with a very selective morality to realise that they are culpable and that culpability is all too obvious to others.
If you react in defence of Gunn when you would have gone all Social Justice w****** had these been the tweets of the time-travelling Commander in Chief, you probably need to have a good, hard think about what sort of person you are.
<div class="bbp-reply-author">superdez75
<div class="bbp-author-role">
<div class="">Member</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
The question is why are you and others defending comments/jokes about paedophilia, really what is wrong with you?
I won't defend jokes about paedophilia, but I might ask the question whether people should be fired over it.
</div>
Yes of course they should especially when they are working for a company whose main raison d'etre is for the purposes of entertaining children.
The thing is, it isn’t actually trolling to point out that Gunn has been hoisted on the left’s own petard of puritanism
In Ninfan’s case it is.
^^What he said. The guy made a few shit jokes years ago. Why should that impact anything he does now?
edit - too slow! what Northwind said.
The thing is, it isn’t actually trolling to point out that Gunn has been hoisted on the left’s own petard of puritanism
Well apart from the fact that it isn't the lefts petard of puritsm, that is just the lie repeated constantly by the right wing blowhards as they attack anyone who opposes them.
From McCarthyism, through the civil rights movement and ant-Vietnam war protests to football players taking a knee, it has been a constant tactic of the right to attack freedom of speech, left wing politics are mere amateurs by comparison, yet the alt-right bawbags have the audacity to lay the fault at those who promote equality and fairness, and it is somehow believed by idiots who can only see their words and not their actions.
From McCarthyism, through the civil rights movement and ant-Vietnam war protests
Interesting that you managed to pick out three examples where US intelligence & security agencies are proven to have abused their powers in order to defend the political establishment...
the left’s own petard of puritanism
What does this even mean? Historically, and contemporaneously, puratamism and right wing values have gone hand in hand. Sex outside marriage, liberalising drugs laws, homesexual rights… all opposed by those on "the right" in the main.
Interesting that you managed to pick out three examples where US intelligence & security agencies are proven to have abused their powers in order to defend the political establishment…
Why is that interesting, I’m pretty sure the US government has used its military and security wings to protect its own interests on many occasions, what is your point, caller?
<div class="bbp-reply-author">superdez75
<div class="bbp-author-role">
<div class="">Member</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
The question is why are you and others defending comments/jokes about paedophilia, really what is wrong with you?
Not watched family guy then !
</div>
Gunn was an idiot & unfunny to boot, trumps army of far right trolls, especially the guy behind it eho doesnt believe in date rape (that'st not a shit joke, that's his actual position) forced disney & they over reacted.
Only real comparison I can think of us lefties reacting similar is Toby Young's idiotic trolling forcing him out of an education quango, but then he wanted to work for government, not a media company & film studio.
& the trumplovers have admitted it was revenge for Roseannes firing, there's certainly some similarities, though I'm not even sure her racist comment was a joke, she never tried to pass it off as one,
the ultimate irony being that actors & directors are held to higher standards than the POTUS!
"the ultimate irony being that actors & directors are held to higher standards than the POTUS!"
Yup. Though that one was pretty much maxxed out with House of Cards.
Humour is a complex thing, it helps us to understand what it means to be human. It’s not just about laughing out loud to jokes that everyone finds acceptable. It’s also used to push and challenge boundaries or explore new ideas. Sometimes it’s purpose is to deride and deflate the things in life we find hard to deal with - including abuse. Obviously, that means that it’s not tasteful to everybody.
Reading through those carefully curated tweets - there’s nothing there to particularly outrage, yes it’s not that funny or clever - but that’s about it. There’s certainly nothing to seriously suggest the guy is a paedophile or supportive of paedophiles.
I think this sounds like McCarthy-esque behaviour as already suggested. Good to see that Ninfan is ready to seemingly defend it too.
Disney have a questionable back catalogue themselves...
Disney have a questionable back catalogue themselves…
That, and their founder held some fairly unsavoury views
hopefully no other director will take it on.
I think the sacking was quite harsh actually, from what I can understand before GOTG1 he publicly apologised for these tweets. <span style="font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.3;">What more could he have done? sure he could have deleted the tweets, but I'm sure that he made them and deleted them would also have come up. </span>
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.3;">Does the punishment fit the crime here, of which there is no crime, just poor judgement which was apologised for and now 6 years after his apology and 10 years after the joke he loses his job.</span>
Yes the jokes were in bad taste, but bad taste jokes are everywhere even in the mainstream shows such as family guy and south park to name only two!
His apology
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. 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.
For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn't living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it. Anyway, that's the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don't anymore. I don't blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all
& a Facebook post he made about 10 month ago...
On Sexual Predators in Hollywood (and the World)
I was on my way to a party Friday night with three close female friends, when the subject of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse allegations come up. They started having a casual conversation about the many times they’ve been sexually harassed in their lives.
One of them talked about how her manager at a restaurant pushed her to the ground, kissing her.
Another discussed a boss at a nightclub who fired her when she wouldn’t go out with him.
Another talked about a film producer who said he could get her roles if she “treated him well”.
And then another round of stories started, of these women being grabbed and molested and abused by bosses and managers and agents. And then another round started: endless incidents of these women being subject to the repeatedly unwanted sexual advances of men, ranging from your every day entitled Hollywood scumbucket douchebag to attempted rape. As I said, to them this conversation was casual – they’ve gotten used to sexual harassment being a part of their everyday lives – but to me it was horrifying.
As we’ve discovered lately with the numerous sexual allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, and Bill O’Reilly, sexual predators have no political affiliation. They are Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Nazis, Green Party, Whigs, and whatever-the-hell-else is out there. But they also know no status or occupation.
Yesterday, I tweeted that if even 1/10 of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true, and I believe they are, then good ****ing riddance. **** him and everyone who enabled him to get away with such behavior. The tweets got a lot of news coverage and I got a lot of responses. One of the primary responses was that sexual predation is a terrible problem... for Hollywood.
Well, yes, that’s true. Sexual predation is rife in Hollywood. But it’s also rife EVERYWHERE. As evinced by the stories I heard Friday night, some men – probably a much larger percentage than any of us want to be true – try to coerce women (or children or other men) sexually, and they will try and do so when they get any small amount of power. They are movie stars and network heads and world famous bloggers – but they are also fast food restaurant managers and used car salesmen and, as I learned as a child (and tried to speak out and was shut down), priests.
And they are EVERYWHERE. And they are killing us. When someone is coerced sexually it not only affects that person, but the lives of those around that person, like rows of dominoes falling in every direction. It demolishes trust and comfort in all of society. And evil men are doing this everywhere, every day, in every occupation, and every type of household, all over the world.
****. THEM. ALL.
I am hoping with recent truths coming to light, that their reign is coming to an end, in Hollywood, and everywhere. I promise to do everything I personally can to stop it, and I applaud and have deep love for every human being who breaks the silence.
Love you all,
James
I suspect there are far worse out there... the guy who dug up the tweets did this...
In November 2017, Posobiec encouraged his Twitter followers to target a woman at her workplace after she came forward with allegations that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore had attempted to have sex with her when she was 14 years old
Just read a good analysis of Gunn and the wider actions of a small group of Reddit trolls involved in Gamergate a couple of years ago. It also looks at the connections with Trump, Rosanne Barr, and the actions of one particular Reddit troll called Mike Cernovich, who dug up the tweets that Gunn had disowned and used them to cause trouble, because of Gunn’s antipathy towards dTrump.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/7/24/17599132/james-gunn-fired-gamergate-guardians-of-the-galaxy
It makes me wonder if our own pet(ty) troll Ninny is connected through Reddit and subReddits. Not that I’m going to start wading through the corrupt cesspit that those corners of the internet so clearly are...
the guy who dug up the tweets did this…
That’ll be Cernovich, then. Probably on Ninny’s Christmas card list.
Note the use of the word “revealed,” as if this unsavory fact had just come to light, rather than been dug up by some online metal-detectorist frantically searching for anything I’d written that could be deemed ‘offensive.’ One of the few people to come to my defense was Fraser Nelson, the editor of the Spectator, who marveled at the prosecutorial zeal of my enemies: “At one stage, the top 10 articles in our online archive (going back to 1828) were all Toby Young’s, as his army of detractors were hard at work.” It goes without saying that no one is actually offended by any of this material, or at least very few people. After all, it would be a bit odd if people spent hours trawling the internet in the hope of finding opinions or jokes that genuinely upset them—and then broadcast them far and wide in the hope of upsetting lots of other people, too. Rather, they’re looking for stuff they can pretend to be shocked by, Captain Renault style
When Fraser told me about the search activity, I joked that at least a new generation of readers was discovering my work. But, of course, these offense archaeologists are about the least sympathetic readers an author could have. They’re just looking for sentences and phrases they can take out of context to cast you in a bad light. The same technique has been used to shame Kevin Williamson, Bari Weiss, Daniella Greenbaum, Sam Harris, Bret Weinstein, Dave Rubin, Jason Riley, Heather Mac Donald, Jordan Peterson, Charles Murray, and countless others. It’s cherry-picking—or rather, cherry bomb-picking. As Ben Shapiro, another victim of this tactic, wrote recently: “It’s not that these people are hated because they’ve said terrible things. It’s that they’re hated, so the hard Left tries to dig up supposedly terrible things they’ve said.”