Dave Bautista Calls Out Disney With Video of Troll That Targeted Gunn

Actor Dave Bautista is calling out both Disney and the professional troll responsible for getting James Gunn fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3, by sharing a video in which the troll confesses to orchestrating fake smear campaigns. While all of Guardians of the Galaxy's core actors have voiced their support for Gunn in recent weeks, Bautista has become the director's most vocal advocate online, repeatedly slamming both Disney and the "Cybernazis" who led the movement to see Gunn fired.

The controversy started at the height of Comic-Con 2018, when several conservative bloggers wrote pieces about a series of tasteless jokes Gunn had made about pedophilia and rape on his personal social media over a decade earlier. Gunn was quick to apologize formally, saying that while he once employed shock humor in his comedy, he had turned over a new leaf and deeply regretted his past comments. Disney still fired Gunn immediately, despite the exact same type of jokes stirring up controversy among liberal and feminist groups - and Gunn formally apologizing for them - when he was originally hired by the company in 2012. Since that time, many have come to believe that Gunn was made a target because of his outspoken disapproval of President Donald Trump, and that Disney overreacted due to a fear of appearing unbalanced following the firing of conservative comedian Roseanne Barr over a racist comment on her Twitter account.

This is certainly the belief of Bautista, who criticized Disney once more in a recent Tweet, which can be viewed below. Bautista shared a video in which Michael Cernovich - one of the bloggers behind the targeted right-wing effort that saw Gunn fired - boasts about his skill in engineering hit pieces. Sensitive viewers should be warned that this video contains graphic language.

The original video was posted by Officer Vic Berger IV - a Twitter user who chronicles the offenses perpetuated by Cernovich against various targets. "Nobody does a hit piece like I can do," boasts Cernovich, before going on to describe how he intentionally crafts fake stories about people and doesn't care what damage he does. Cernovich then invites one particular user to try and sue him for slander, saying that the the truth won't matter once public opinion is turned against them.

Cernovich is a noted conservative conspiracy theorist and antifeminist, most famous for serving as a guest host on The Alex Jones Show. He's also noted for his authorship of Gorilla Mindset - a self-help book for men based around the idea that all women really want to be controlled by a man. Since going after Gunn, many of Cernovich's past writings have come back to haunt him. Comedians like Patton Oswalt have shared several of Cernovich's recent tweets - many of which contain homophobic, racist and sexist slurs far worse than anything Gunn ever said as a joke.

While Bautista's defense of his friend and willingness to call out bullying is admirable, it's unlikely to change Disney's attitude, much less get Gunn rehired as director on Guardians of the Galaxy 3. For good or ill, Disney seems to have made their choice.