5. 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.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 20, 2018
-Ooh boy, this is a biggie. Disney fired Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn after a series of offensive tweets from years ago resurfaced. In a statement, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said, “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values.” In a series of tweets, Gunn apologized for the posts that made light of pedophilia and rape, saying “I viewed myself as a provocateur.” He’s been a questionable figure for a while (he had to apologize a few years ago for a homophobic blog post, and there was some drama about sharing writing credits), but the wrinkle in this story is that the tweets were resurfaced by alt-right personalities who are likely less concerned about the offensive content and more about taking down a celeb who frequently rails against the president. (It might also be payback for Roseanne, who was also a Disney star.) However it happened, he should have been fired, but man this is messy. Also, it remains *incomprehensible* to me that celebrities (and/or their publicists) don’t immediately scrub their entire digital presence of anything even remotely questionable the second they get a modicum of fame. It should be part of the Hollywood starter kit!
-Speaking of Roseanne, she “explained” the racist tweet that got her fired from her sitcom in a bizarre new YouTube video. She said she was fired because she voted for Trump (“That is not allowed in Hollywood”) and then screamed at the top of her lungs “I thought the b—- was white! Goddamn it! I thought the b—- was white! F—!” when talking about Valerie Jarrett. According to TMZ, the man asking Roseanne the questions is her son.
–Shonda Rhimes says she’s creating 8(!) shows for Netflix, including an adaptation of The Cut’s viral scamming story about Anna Delvey.
–Wiz Khalifa said straight men shouldn’t bite into bananas. [laughs for infinity]
–Ariana Grande is defending naming a song on her new album after Pete Davidson: “It’s a special song about the most special human being I’ve ever met.”
-I have to say I’m pretty impressed that they are casting an age-appropriate love interest for Tom Cruise in Top Gun 2. Jennifer Connelly in early talks.
–Aaron Paul dressed his baby in Breaking Bad gear for Comic-Con, and it was hella cute.
-Watch Andrew Lincoln get a little tearful at Comic-Con while confirming that he’s leaving Walking Dead.
-Meanwhile, I gave up on The Walking Dead years ago but it’s pretty neat that they landed Samantha Morton as their new big bad.
–Joe Manganiello recalled the time he was told to beat up James Franco in an audition. This man is living my dream!
-Paramount TV president Amy Powell was fired over inappropriate comments she made in a meeting. They didn’t say what the comments were, but they must have been rul rul bad for her to be fired instead of reprimanded.
-Hush Hush is being adapted into a movie? Seriously?! I read that book ten years ago (TEN!) and was horrified by how the “romance” basically consists of a woman being being worn down by her stalker. It was bad enough back then, so how the hell does this get picked up in the #MeToo era?
-DVR alert: Canada is finally getting Killing Eve, which starts airing on Bravo this Sunday.
-I dug this piece on how TV’s need to consume more of our time has led to a frustrating deterioration in quality, even for good shows.
-Conan got Jodie Foster, Hilary Swank, Nick Offerman and more to “audition” for Batgirl.
-I was certain that this story about Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and Ian McKellen signing on to do a movie adaptation of Cats was a joke — but I don’t think it is?
-This thread, which summarizes every Shakespeare play with a Parks and Rec quote, is brilliant.
–Elle Fanning goes on the run in the trailer for Mélanie Laurent’s Galveston.
