Or you could have read those five words as 'I am glad *he* replaced Gideon (as opposed to some other actor who might have replaced Mandy)' and enjoyed the interview.

If that's the case, then I'd still say that the wording could be better and point out that a very simple way to avoid all this trouble would have been to say something like 'I'm so glad Joe was brought aboard as part of the cast.' It's the same message without the potential bashing/wank.

The rest of your comment I completely agree with.