Jim Carrey withdraws support for Kick-Ass 2 following Sandy Hook massacre

Jim Carrey has withdrawn support for Kick-Ass 2 movie following the Sandy Hook massacre.

Jim Carrey tweeted on Sunday: “I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence.”

“My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart,” he added.

Jim Carrey is well-known for his support of gun control measures.

Twenty pupils and six staff were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last December by 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza. He had earlier shot dead his mother in their home.

Kick-Ass 2 follows 2010’s ultra-violent comic book movie and sees Chloe Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson reprise their roles as high school pupils turned DIY superheroes Hit Girl and Kick-Ass.

The movie will be released in the UK on 14 August and the US on 16 August.

Jim Carrey’s character in the film is Colonel Stars and Stripes, the leader of a group of superheroes.

Creator of the original comic book and Kick-Ass executive producer Mark Millar said he was “baffled” by Jim Carrey’s decision and asked him to reconsider.

In a forum on his website Millarworld, he wrote: “As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay eighteen months ago.

“Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin.

“A sequel to the picture that gave us Hit-Girl was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much… like Jim, I’m horrified by real-life violence (even though I’m Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a documentary.”

Further down in his posting, he continued: “Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real life.,, Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider for all the above points.”

Universal Pictures, the film’s studio, has yet to comment on Jim Carrey’s decision.