A stir was caused all over social media when Egyptian comedian and TV host Bassem Youssef said that he lost a role in James Gunn’s ‘Superman: Legacy‘ because of his avid support of Palestine.
On the other side of the coin is the director himself, Gunn, who has a completely different story to tell. Let’s dive into the double-sided narrative:
Youssef’s Side
Back in October, ever since he made an appearance on “Piers Morgan: Uncensored,” he made a major impact as one of the most unorthodox supporters of Palestine. Youssef delivered a masterclass in political satire and dark humor when criticizing Israel.
Fast forward one month from October, and Youssef finds out he’s no longer starring as a villain in ‘Superman: Legacy.’ During a recent interview in ‘Salon Talks,’ he opened up about the lost role. While he did say that the official reason for losing the role was a script change, he couldn’t ignore how the timing coincided with many others in Hollywood losing jobs and roles for supporting Palestine.
He iterated the same reason during a video posted on Instagram on Feb 17 where he wanted to clear the air on the what he called the “Superman fiasco”. He said that he is “a huge fun of James Gunn” but again makes it clear that the timing of him getting removed from the script could not ignored.
On the other side of the coin, the story was very different:
Gunn’s Side
On Threads, Gunns cleared the air by sharing: “Bassem and I talked and we’re good. I understand how he thought things might be (which he was clear about in his interview), and I told him the whole story.”
Gunn acknowledged that Youssef’s character was in the script, and he did talk to Youssef about possibly playing the role, but it’s claimed that a formal offer was never made. Sources say Bassem’s character was dropped from the script prior to the Pier’s Morgan interview.
Gunn even re-tweeted the Variety article that said that Youssef’s role was dropped before the interview and he supported that claim by tweeting, “This is accurate.”
With two sharply stark sides to the same story and an unclear timeline, it’s hard to unravel the true story behind the events. What do you think?