Bobcat Goldthwait asks Disney to remove his voice from attraction in James Gunn protest

Ben Arnold
·Contributor
Bobcat Goldthwait (Credit: Desiree Navarro/WireImage)
Bobcat Goldthwait (Credit: Desiree Navarro/WireImage)

Actor and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait has asked Disney to remove his voice from a forthcoming park attraction over its sacking of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn.

Goldthwait, who is a friend of Gunn’s, was set to appear in a spin-off of the World of Color lazer and waterfountain show, called World of Color – Villainous.

In it, Goldthwait reprised his role as Pain, a henchman of Hades, from the 1997 movie Hercules.

But following the dismissal of Gunn, after bad taste jokes he made on Twitter many years ago resurfaced via a right-wing activist, the star of Police Academy and now a prolific TV director said he no longer wants to be involved.

In a post on Instagram, which also featured a picture of him getting a fish pedicure with Gunn, he said: “Dear @disney, I would hate for you to come off as hypocritical so I’m suggesting that you remove my voice from an attraction that’s coming to your park. It’s called WORLD OF COLOR – VILLAINOUS, and I reprise the role of Pain, a role I played in HERCULES.

World of Color (Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)
World of Color (Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

“You see here’s the deal, years ago I made a lot of sarcastically shocking and offensive jokes. Many that I’m embarrassed about now, and I’d hate to make you guys look bad seeing that I’m openly critical of the president and his administration, and you seem to be taking your lead from some of his radical fringe supporters.”

I love @jamesgunn. He’s a loyal friend, super talented, passionate and kind. I wanted to say something, here it is: Dear @disney, I would hate for you to come off as hypocritical so I’m suggesting that you remove my voice from an attraction that’s coming to your park. It’s called WORLD OF COLOR – VILLAINOUS, and I reprise the role of Pain, a role I played in HERCULES. You see here’s the deal, years ago I made a lot of sarcastically shocking and offensive jokes. Many that I’m embarrassed about now, and I’d hate to make you guys look bad seeing that I’m openly critical of the president and his administration, and you seem to be taking your lead from some of his radical fringe supporters. I think James Woods may have recorded a voice for this new attraction, too. Why not check out some of his whacky past tweets?! They’re a hoot! For the record I do stand with survivors of sexual abuse and I was wondering if you guys are still making money off of your movie POWDER? Asking for a friend. Thanks, Bobcat

A post shared by Bobcat Goldthwait (@bobcatgoldthwait) on Jul 22, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

Goldthwait also directed Disney to conservative actor James Woods’ Twitter account, as Woods’ voice also appears during the World of Color show.

Woods has long been known for making controversial statements on social media, while Goldthwait also brought up the controversy over the 1995 movie Powder, which was distributed by Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures.

Powder was made by director Victor Salva, who was hired some years after he had been convicted of child sexual abuse.

Many friends of the director have defended him following Disney’s shock move, just a few months ahead of the third movie heading into production.

Michael Rooker quit Twitter over the firing, while Dave Bautista added: “He’s made mistakes. We all have. I;m NOT ok with what’s happening to him.”

Meanwhile, a petition to have him reinstated has nearly 250,000 signatures so far.

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