Sons Of Anarchy Creator Discusses Why He Was Fired

Sons of Anarchy and Mayans creator Kurt Sutter has spoken up to offer his thoughts on why he thinks Disney fired him. In a statement to cast and crew regarding his firing, Sutter referred to himself as an "abrasive dick," and now he's shared more insight, including details on an off-color joke he made about Walt Disney.

Speaking to Deadline, Sutter said he thinks he was seen as a "loose cannon" who did not fit in well with Disney's family friendly approach.

"I believe that decision to un-tether myself from corporate process is what led to my dismissal," he said. "In their eyes I was a loose cannon, who could ultimately besmirch the family friendly brand. And they were right. It was best for all parties to part ways."

Sutter created Sons of Anarchy, Mayans, and The Bastard Executioner for Fox. Disney acquired Fox and these franchises earlier this year, and as part of this, he became a Disney employee.

Sutter is in a tricky place now, as he is on contract with Disney "for another year." Ideally, he would like Disney to pay him out of his contract and let him loose "so that we all can heal and move on."

Sutter also spoke about he was becoming "burned out" after working so frantically on Sons of Anarchy, The Bastard Executioner, Mayans, and other projects over the years. As a result, he said he was become more and more frustrated. He said he was losing patience and he was no longer feeling very inspired to collaborate.

The timing, with Disney acquiring Fox as Sutter was feeling this way, led to a bad situation, Sutter said.

"In this transitional phase, from one regime to the next, stability is key. You want to try and make it as smooth as possible," Sutter said. "You have brands combining here, and so everybody is upside down and worried anyway. So you really need a lot of stability."

He added: "Then you plug my personality into those two circumstances? That's what didn't hold together. Had this gone down two or three years from now, when the transition was over and people were more settled, there may have been a different response to it."

Also in the interview, Sutter spoke about how his relationship with Disney began to crumble after he wrote a joke--"not a very good one," in his eyes--for Mayans that executives were unhappy with. Go to Deadline to read more about what Sutter had to say about this dark humour joke and what happened behind the scenes as a result of it.

There is no word yet on what Sutter will do next.