Last year, Chris Pratt managed to piss off the entire internet.
In response to the backlash, he attempted to hide behind his faith. He’s done it before.
This is part of a larger pattern for Chris, whose former fans have begun to dislike him in recent years.
The internet’s least favorite Chris is trying to repair his image in a new, unconvincing interview.
Before we unpack Chris Pratt’s spin, let’s take a look at what he actually said.
In an interview with Men’s Health, he is first and foremost expressing remorse for shading his ex-wife … and son.
He made creepy comments about wife Katherine Schwarzenegger staring at him in adoration.
It reminded people of of how fundamentalist wives are expected to smile worshipfully at their husbands.
That was not all, of course, but that is where Pratt began.
“I said something like, ‘Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me,’” he acknowledged.
“And then I gave her some s–t in the thing,” Pratt characterized.
“And,” he continued, he “said, ‘But I love you. I’m so thankful for my wife.’”
“‘She gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter,” Pratt recalled his statement.
The issue, of course, was that Pratt’s child with Anna Faris was born prematurely.
Many of Pratt’s fans and critics alike believe that this health crisis led to Pratt tilting towards more extreme religious zeal.
Frankly, it was hard to read this as anything but a slight towards his ex and his son.
“Then a bunch of articles came out and said, ‘That’s so cringeworthy,’” Pratt recalled.
He cited articles saying “‘I can’t believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature.’”
Pratt continued: “‘That’s such a dig at his ex-wife.’ And I’m like, That is f–ked up.”
“My son’s gonna read that one day,” Pratt then acknowledged.
“He’s nine,” he noted, hinting that one day could easily mean tomorrow.
“And,” Pratt characterized, “it’s etched in digital stone.”
“It really f–king bothered me, dude. I cried about it,” Pratt expressed.
He added: “I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are — to the people close to me — a real burden.”
To be clear, people were reasonably happy about his daughter’s health, but took issue with how he celebrated.
Chris Pratt also acknowledged that, for some mysterious reason, people think that he’s especially religious.
Obviously, being a Christian isn’t why “may Chris Pratt be cast to voice your favorite character” is a curse.
Instead, people take issue with Pratt’s “alleged” affiliation with the infamous Hillsong Church and with its eerily similar offshoot.
“Religion has been oppressive as fuck for a long time,” Pratt noted to Men’s Health.
That is a bit of a generalization, but he is hardly the first to conflate evangelical Christianity with faith as a concept.
“I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion,” he claimed, “when really I’m not a religious person.”
“I think there’s a distinction between being religious — adhering to the customs created by man,” Pratt began.
He explained: “oftentimes appropriating the awe reserved for who I believe is a very real God.”
Pratt continued: “And using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred.”
“Whatever it is,” Pratt went on.
“The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed on to the back of religion,” he characterized.
Pratt then added: “And come along for the ride.”
Interestingly, Pratt denies having attended Hillsong Church, a controversial organization.
Hillsong is an international megachurch. It famously caters to celebrities, utilizes youth culture, and had various scandals.
Though Pratt went on to attend Zoe Church, people saw and photographed him attending Hillsong in 2017.
Throwing Hillsong under the bus seems like an easy deflection, but is Zoe Church really any better?
Pastor Chad Veach executive produced a 2017 film that equated cheating and “sexual brokenness” to the LGBTQ+ community.
It’s not like Pratt doesn’t know about Veach; the two are also golfing buddies.
Perhaps Chris Pratt is just trying to clear the air, but the timing of this interview after months of silence suggests otherwise.
More likely, his critics suggest, he is trying to spin his image ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder, where he reprises his role as Peter Quill.
That doesn’t have to mean that he’s lying to the world. He may not be being entirely honest with himself.
On a final note, I want to make it clear that no one thinks that Chris Pratt is evil, or hates him for being a Christian.
His coworkers all say that he’s a great guy to be around, and 60% of the country is of that faith.
But if he wants to get people to like him, more honesty and transparency would help. Rewriting history, not so much.