A week ago, Disney fired 'Guardian of the Galaxy' director James Gunn over offensive tweets. In an attempt to be a provocateur, Gunn cracked tasteless jokes about pedophilia, rape, AIDS, the 9/11 attacks and the Holocaust. However, these 'indefensible' tweets are nearly a decade old. Gunn posted them long before Disney hired him to direct the first 'Guardians' movie.

So, why is this just coming up now? On social media, Gunn has been an outspoken Trump critic. Right-wing activists - such as Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec and other trolls - dug up Gunn's old edgelord tweets in a concerted effort to get him fired. It worked. Cernovich told The Wrap he thinks "Hollywood is rotten to the core" and plans to run more smear campaigns against liberal celebrities. To him, "Twitter is just modern-day gladiatorial combat."

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The latest Hollywood target appears to be comedian/actress Sarah Silverman. When Silverman first blew up as a stand-up comic, she told a lot of shock-value jokes. Over the years, her act evolved, becoming more introspective and political. But those old jokes don't disappear. Currently, Twitter users are furious - or pretending to be furious - over one of Sarah tweets from 2009: "Hey, is it considered molestation if the child makes the first move? I'm gonna need a quick answer on this."

One person wrote, "Clearly nothing funny about that tweet. No way you say it, spin it or twist it, the fact remains it was tasteless and a head-turner." A second wrote, "It’s not a joking matter." A third wrote, "You’re not going to normalize pedophilia, period! #MAGA." A fourth wrote ",Pedophilia is not funny. It destroys lives. I know it's common in Hollywood." A fifth wrote, "You are a pedophile and you friends are going to prison."

Apparently, right-wing trolls believe joking about pedophilia makes you a pedophile (it doesn't), pedophilia is common in Hollywood (it's not) and that liberals want to normalize pedophilia (they don't). In the comments, Sarah stood by her decision to post the joke. One person asked, "Was that supposed to be funny? Cause it wasn't." Sarah replied, "That's ok doll. Comedy is subjective. I thought it was a funny/dumb tweet 8 years ago when I posted it."

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Sarah voices Vanellope von Schweetz in Disney's animated hit Wreck It Ralph and the upcoming sequel, Ralph Breaks The Internet. (And all the Disney princesses get a cameo!) Apparently, right-wing activists are hoping to repeat their success with James Gunn, and persuade the Mouse House to fire Sarah. The I Love You, America Host fired back at critics calling her a "pedophile" for her joke.

"Some very odd people R saying I’m a pedo, re: a joke from a time not that long ago when hard absurd jokes by comedians were acknowledged for what they were — jokes — not a disengenuous national threat to people fake-clutching their pearls (whilst ranting the country’s too PC)."

Critics might respond, what about Roseanne Barr? ABC cancelled her sitcom - the #1 show on television - after she tweeted a racist joke about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. However, Roseanne's situation differs because the scandalous tweet was recent - not from a decade ago.

While speaking to GQ, Sarah reflected that "not all comedy is evergreen." "If you're doing [comedy] right, you look back at your old stuff and you're horrified." And when you tell a joke on Twitter, it's there forever.

We live in amazing times, where we can instantly access information about everything. Unfortunately, that also includes information about us. As we sculpt personalities on social media, we don't think about the possible repercussions in the future. Nothing on the internet disappears.

Last week, comedian Kevin Hart learned a hard lesson as he became the shortest Oscar host in history. (Pun intended.) Hours after his hosting announcement, Hart's homophobic tweets resurfaced. The tweets dated from 2009 t0 2011 and contained numerous gay slurs, plus anti-gay jokes. For example, one tweet read, "Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice 'stop that’s gay.'" Although the posts were old, many people were offended, and thought the Night School star owed the LGBTQ community an apology.

Hart's first response was defiant. On Instagram, he said he was all about positivity these days, and did not want to revisit negative things from his past. Hours later, he released another video, revealing that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an ultimatum: apologise or they'll find a new host. He chose not to apologise, and claimed he already addressed the issue.

This outraged people even more, as it seemed like he did not regret his behaviour. Then, finally, Hart apologised to the LGBTQ community and announced he was stepping down the from the Oscars gig.

The controversy sparked a debate: Should we judge celebrities for their old "problematic" tweets? Over time, attitudes in society change, and we grow as people. Stand-up comedians often push the boundaries regarding what's offensive, and therefore tend to have many old jokes they regret. Is it fair to single out Kevin Hart? Wild N' Out's Nick Cannon called out three comedians for their old tweets, which contain gay slurs just like Kevin Hart's.

In 2012, Chelsea Handler, host of eponymous talk shows on E! and Netflix, tweeted, "This is what a f** bird likes like when he flexes." In 2010, Sarah Silverman, star of Disney's Wreck-It-Ralph and Hulu's I Love You, America, tweeted, "I dont mean this in a hateful way but the new bachelorette's a f*****." And in 2012, movie and television star Amy Schumer tweeted, "Enjoy skyfall f***. I'm bout to get knee deep in Helen Hunt #thesessions." Do the people who protested Kevin Hart also protest those comedians?

To be sure, it was a different time back then. Gay slurs, unfortunately, were more socially acceptable. In a recent interview, Sarah Silverman explained how her comedy has transformed over the years.

"It’s interesting to have done comedy through such totally different times," said Silverman. "There’s so much in my first special that makes me cringe, but I’m not ashamed of it. You have to be accountable. And if you don’t look back at your old shit and cringe, you’re not growing."

In 2012, Nick Cannon condemned comedians that use gay slurs, tweeting, "If your best joke includes "gay" or "f*****" you should be kicked of twitter this ain't the 3rd grade! #notaninsult #lackofcreativity." It took a few years for others to get 'woke,' but at least they got there, eventually, right? We've all said things we regret, or made us cringe years later. What matters most is how you handle it; if Kevin Hart just apologized right away, he probably would have kept the Oscars, gig, right?

Social media has turned into quite a minefield. Be careful what you tweet!

After Kevin Hart was announced as Oscars host, his homophobic tweets resurfaced, creating a firestorm of controversy. The comedian consistently used anti-gay slurs between 2009 and 2011, which included saying someone's profile picture looks like "a gay billboard for AIDS." In addition, people were seriously offended by his 2010 comedy special Seriously Funny.

"One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay," stated Hart. "Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people, do what you want to do, but me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."

Initially, the Night School star responded with defiance. On Instagram, he claimed he had grown as a person, and already apologised for the offending material in the past. It's true that he addressed the issue in 2015. Hart told Rolling Stone he was attempting to mock his own insecurities with those jokes, and would not repeat them today because the climate is more sensitive. However, he did not say he was sorry.

His stubborn refusal to show contrition, then and now, sparked an enormous backlash. Finally, Hart announced he was stepping down as Oscars host and apologised to the LGBTQ community for his insensitive words.

Some people jumped to Hart's defence, claiming he was a victim of "mob justice," and political correctness had gone too far. Wild N' Out's Nick Cannon pointed out that other comedians used anti-gay slurs in the past, and face no current backlash. "This is what a f** bird likes like when he flexes," tweeted Chelsea Handler in 2012. "I dont mean this in a hateful way but the new bachelorette's a f*****," tweeted Sarah Silverman in 2010. "Enjoy skyfall f***. I'm bout to get knee deep in Helen Hunt #thesessions," tweeted Amy Schumer in 2012.

None of them were publicly shamed, or forced to step down from a high profile gig. Why excoriate Kevin Hart?

With America on the brink of Civil War 2, actor-comedian Billy Eichner waded in to make sense of it all. Normally you see the him screaming random questions at pedestrians on Billy On The Street. However, on Twitter, he offered a nuanced response to the squabble, and it's absolutely perfect. Eichner states he found Nick Cannon's response "compelling," and explains why Hart's homophobic jokes differ from Handler, Silverman and Schumer's tweets. He adds that he is no fan of "cancellation culture" and favours having meaningful conversations.

Here's Eichner's full response:

"People have been tweeting me for my thoughts on Nick Cannon’s tweets and the use of the F-word by the comedians he points out. I think Nick's point is a compelling one. I obviously do not and cannot speak for the entire LGBT community (obviously). But here’s my personal opinion: Just don’t use the word. It’s as simple as that. There are so many other words to use. Now, because I am a grown up and not a child, I do take context, nuance and *intention* into consideration.

"I think these are comedians who felt they can use that term because they have very large, dedicated gay male followings, myself included. They feel like they’re ‘one of us.’ So I think in some of these cases it was being used with what is *intended* as some sort of endearing, if irreverent, affection. And I do think there is a sizable difference between using this one word in this type of context and saying with some amount of gravity and truth that you’re going to smash a dollhouse over your child’s head if they exhibit stereotypically gay behavior.

"HOWEVER – that is an explanation, not an excuse. I agree that the best thing to do is to just not use the damn word! As a gay man, unless it’s perhaps a gay friend of mine saying it to me at a LIVELY BRUNCH, I don’t like hearing it. Even when I know it’s coming from an ally – and certainly when I know that it isn’t. It’s not a fun word for us to hear at this point. We’ve come too far. So maybe let’s just drop it. I’m not into censorship and I know some gay men may disagree but, like I said, there are so many other words to use.

"Finally, I want to say this. I don’t like that word but I also don’t like ‘cancellation’ culture. Like I said in my first tweet about the Kevin Hart situation, many of us, myself included, have made jokes/tweets in the past that we deeply regret. Kevin decided to quit on his own volition. He had his reasons and that’s obviously his prerogative. But I’m not into people being permanently ‘cancelled’ over something like this. To me, ‘cancellation’ is childish."

"I'm into conversation, not cancellation. I'm into owning up to past mistakes, acknowledging blindspots and hurtful remarks and talking through it, discussing it, learning, moving past it and making progress together. And with that, I would like to announce my candidacy for President of the United States. Just kidding. Thanks for reading this if you've made it this far. To be clear - I don't consider myself any type of moral authority whatsoever. This is just my personal take on it, since I'm gay and people were curious what I thought. Happy holidays to all. Peace on Earth."

The Academy has not announced a new Oscars host yet, and according to the latest reports, they're considering not having a host for the event at all. Well, how about Billy Eichner? I'd watch him roam around the audience with a mic and scream at celebrities. (Or thoughtfully respond to sensitive issues.)

It's an unfortunate fact that many transgender people face suspicion, hostility, doubt, and rejection from society at large, as a result of their identity. Indeed, this kind of societal prejudice can often make romance and dating that much harder.

But this week, a transgender woman's tweet went viral, after she described the reaction a date had to the news that she was trans.

Tiffany Monroe, 23, who comes from Texas, took to Twitter this week with a screenshot of a text she apparently received from a man she was on a date with. She captioned the screenshot: "I told this guy I was trans and look at his response."

His message read: "Honestly I aint worried too much about that if that is the case. I mean, you a woman and I aint gay, so what you talking about exactly? It's 2019. I'm a grown man your past shouldn't matter like that."

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On social media, Tiffany's followers reacted positively to her post, and the original tweet now boasts over 15,000 retweets. For instance, a Twitter-user with the handle @BeezMarie wrote: "I don’t want to praise him for the simple fact that we’re praising him for treating someone like a damn human being as he should, but I’m going to praise him because people ain’t sh*t anymore."

Meanwhile, someone with the handle @_clvrarose replied to the tweet saying: "In a world where trans people are treated so horribly and dehumanised, it’s an absolute breath of fresh air to see responses like that. Although, it should be the bare minimum and just common."

Tiffany later returned to Twitter to thank her followers for their support and condemn trolls for their online harassment, writing: "All the ugly men quoting this and being transphobic, I hope the girl you f*cking with gives you chlamydia. You ugly b*tches ... Anyway, thank you to all the lovely people being so nice to me, y’all are beautiful, deserve love and I hope you have a good night/day! To everyone being rude & transphobic, suck a fart outta my *ss b*tches.[sic] "

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This isn't the first time that we've taken a look at a trans relationship. If you haven't done so already, then why not check out this article we penned all about the world's first legally-married transgender couple, and how they've managed to take their sex life to the next level since coming out and hooking up.