On Monday, one of Disney’s producers for their live action Beauty and the Beast movie, Jack Morrissey took to Twitter to apologize for calling for the death of the MAGA hat wearing teenagers from Covington Catholic High School.
Morrissey not only wished for their death, but wanted to shove them into a “woodchipper” head first.
You can see a screen cap of the original tweet below:
Many online were able to capture the late night tweet before it was deleted by Morrissey. Even former Vice President candidate and former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin took a screen grab before it was taken down:
Don’t tell me this is THEE Jack Morrissey. “Famed” Disney producer Morrissey?
Dear Lord…
– Sarah Palin pic.twitter.com/XxX28AxBpQ
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) January 21, 2019
Jack Morrissey spoke to TheWrap and apologized for his Tweet. In the interview, he claims that he was “joking” about the teens being thrown hats first screaming into the woodchipper.
“It was something that I did not give any thought to. It was just a fast, profoundly stupid tweet. … I would throw my phone into the ocean before doing that again.”
He would offer a further explanation on Twitter before locking his Twitter account from public view indicating the Tweet was “satirical.”
“Yesterday I tweeted an image based on FARGO that was meant to be satirical — as always — but I see now that it was in bad taste. I offended many people — My sincerest apologies. I would never sincerely suggest violence against others, especially kids. Lesson learned.”
He went on to apologize and took responsibility for his actions:
“I have no issue whatsoever with taking responsibility, but also completely apologizing that I clearly intended it to be seen as satire. … That was clearly not recorded that way by many who saw it.”
When asked about his view of the MAGA Teens and if he might have changed his opinion following the addition of more evidence of the encounter, Morrissey admits that he hasn’t had the “headspace” to view all the information:
“I have seen tweets from both sides feeling disappointed that the mainstream media went his way or that way. But I haven’t had the headspace to take the time to watch all the videos.”
This isn’t the first time Disney has had an issue with someone making “jokes” about kids. James Gunn fell victim to his own humor last summer after a number of Tweets and blog posts surfaced involving pedophilia. Disney would end up firing Gunn as the Director of the Guardians of the Galaxy series. However, he has landed back on his feet and is currently working on a new Suicide Squad movie for DC Entertainment.