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James Gunn responds to backlash over Shazam star Zachary Levi’s anti-vaccine comment-Aisha Nozari-Entertainment – Metro

The director gave an honest answer.

James Gunn responds to backlash over Shazam star Zachary Levi’s anti-vaccine comment-Aisha Nozari-Entertainment – Metro

James Gunn has shared his thoughts on Zachary Levi’s criticism of Pfizer (Picture: Getty)

James Gunn has responded to comments made by Shazam star Zachary Levi that were perceived as being anti-vax.

On Sunday, the DC actor criticised Pfizer, one of the pharmaceutical companies that makes coronavirus vaccines.

Days later, James, who is a DC Films co-chair, was asked about Zachary’s remarks and said he wasn’t in the business of ‘changing plans whenever an actor says something I don’t agree with’ but did say if talent did something ‘morally reprehensible’ that would be ‘taken into account’.

Actor Zachary’s fans expressed their dismay when the 42-year-old retweeted a questionable hot take from pundit Lyndon Wood that read: ‘Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?’

‘Hardcore agree,’ Zachary chimed in before also posting a link to a Department of Justice press release from 2009 that announced Pfizer had been ordered to pay a $2.3 billion settlement for misbranding one of its drugs.

Announcing his plans for the DC Universe at an event over the weekend, James, 56, was asked about Zachary’s remarks and replied: ‘Actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don’t agree with.’

James said he wasn’t in the business of ‘changing plans whenever an actor says something I don’t agree with’ (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Zachary’s fans expressed their dismay over his tweet (Picture: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for IMDb)

Hardcore agree. 😐 https://t.co/goeEf5UQ5s

— Zachary Levi (@ZacharyLevi) January 29, 2023

‘And that’s going to happen. I don’t have a list of things that somebody should say because of what I think. And you know, I can’t be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something that I don’t agree with,’ he added, according to Variety.

However, the Guardians of the Galaxy director did note: ‘By the same token, if somebody’s doing something morally reprehensible then that’s a different story.

Just one example of what I’m referring to…😔https://t.co/5xCpCSCDrl

— Zachary Levi (@ZacharyLevi) January 29, 2023

‘We have to take all that stuff into account. It’s a balance. It’s a modern world and it’s a different place.’

James also spoke about DC’s history at the event, calling it ‘f****d up’.

‘The history of DC is pretty messed up, it was f**ked up. No one was minding the mint, they were just giving away the IP like they were party favours to any creators that smiled at them,’ he said.

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‘One of our strategies is to take our diamond characters — which is Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman — and we use them to prop up other characters that people don’t know,’ the industry veteran went on.

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Co-CEO Safran added: ‘To build those lesser known properties into the diamond properties of tomorrow.’

Metro.co.uk has approached Zachary’s reps for comment.

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