Lucasfilm

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson recently deleted 20,000 tweets soon after Disney fired James Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy 3."

Johnson explained that it was a preemptive measure and a decision he made himself.

"This seems like a 'why not?' move," he tweeted.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson recently deleted 20,000 tweets soon after Disney fired James Gunn from directing "Guardians of the Galaxy 3." Gunn was fired last week after conservative personalities resurfaced old tweets in which Gunn joked about child abuse.

On Wednesday, Johnson explained why he chose to delete all of his tweets from before January 25. Responding to pop culture website The Mary Sue on Twitter, Johnson clarified that it was a decision he made as a preemptive measure. While he didn't think he'd tweeted anything "that bad," he felt he might as well be cautious if "trolls" are digging through old tweets.

He tweeted: "No official directive at all, and I don't think I've ever tweeted anything that bad. But it's nine years of stuff written largely off the cuff as ephemera, if trolls scrutinizing it for ammunition is the new normal, this seems like a 'why not?' move."

It makes sense that Johnson would want to be extra cautious. Johnson has been the target of online criticism from vocal "Star Wars" fans who didn't like "The Last Jedi" and he's said that he received death threats after the movie was released.

Meanwhile, Gunn's firing has been scrutinized by celebrities and fans alike. A Change.org petition currently has over 300,000 signatures urging Disney to re-hire him for "Guardians of the Galaxy 3."