More stars of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise have broken their silence about the firing of director James Gunn.The filmmaker, who was expected to begin production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, was cut loose by Disney on Friday after some of his right-wing detractors uncovered offensive tweets made between 2008 and 2012 about rape and pedophilia. Gunn apologized Thursday night, as the insensitive remarks began to circulate more widely on Twitter, saying they were made during a period in which he viewed himself as a provocateur.RELATED: Senator Ted Cruz Thinks James Gunn Should Be Prosecuted For His TweetsDave Bautista has already spoken out in defense of Gunn, and now co-stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan have addressed the matter, although far less directly. Pratt cited a passage from the New Testament, while Saldana and Gillan expressed their love for their "GotG family."

"It's been a challenging weekend I'm not gonna lie," Saldana wrote. "I'm pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will."

Frequent Gunn collaborator Michael Rooker, who played Yondu in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films, quit Twitter on Sunday, declaring, “We’re very tired & upset over the ongoing BULLSHIT… neither I nor my rep will use Twitter again. Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it.”

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Fans launched an online petition in hopes of convincing Disney to re-hire Gunn. As of this morning, it has attracted nearly 170,000 supporters.

Gunn had recently completed a draft of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which had been expected to begin filming in January in Atlanta, in time for a 2020 release.