Guardians of the Galaxy star quits Twitter after James Gunn firing

Guardians of the Galaxy cast members are having varied online reactions in the wake of writer-director James Gunn’s firing from Disney, but one has opted to quit the social media platform altogether.

Michael Rooker, who played outlaw Yondu Udonta in the first two films in the franchise, announced in an angry sounding post on Twitter he was leaving the platform. Gunn was fired by Disney last week after he became the target of a right-wing online campaign to oust the director over obscene decade-old deleted tweets. Rooker doesn’t specifically cite Gunn’s firing in his exit post but recent events have fans assuming that’s the reason (plus, Rooker’s Twitter profile photo is the actor posing with Gunn).

“This account will be inactive after today,” Rooker wrote. “We’re very tired & upset over the ongoing BULLS–T… neither I nor my rep will use Twitter again. Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it. Thank you to all who gave kind words & support. See you on Instagram.”

Guardians star Zoe Saldana (Gamora) also took to Twitter to post a message that’s assumed to be a reflection on the furor surrounding Gunn’s dismissal:

And star Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) cited this Bible quote:

Meanwhile, fans have started an online petition urging Disney to re-hire the director with 170,000 signatures as of Monday morning.

“If you do this to Gunn you have to do it for all the other directors who have said some crappy joke sometime in their life, which is all of them, cause I doubt there’s one human on this planet who hasn’t made a sh—y joke once or twice in their life,” reads the petition.

Actress Selma Blair urged fans to sign the petition and noted, “if people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? This man is one of the good ones.”

Dave Bautista (Drax) was from the Guardians crew to first to post outrage about the firing last week:

And comedian Bobcat Goldthwait posted a shade-filled request to Disney to remove his voice from an upcoming park attraction due to his support for Gunn:

While Sean Gunn (who plays Kraglin in the Guardians films and does the on-set physical performance of Rocket Raccoon), also shared a message supporting his brother: