Last week, everyone’s least favorite Famous Chris creeped out and disgusted the internet.
The result was an outpouring of love and support for his ex-wife and an intense backlash towards Chris Pratt himself.
The Guardians of the Galaxy star appeared to insult not only his ex, but also his firstborn son.
He paid dearly for that shade, which left him in a foul mood.
First, we have to set the stage in case there is some confusion, because not everyone views Chris Pratt the same way.
To many, he’s just a funny TV man who became an MCU actor. For some reason, the one that a lot of moms have a crush on.
But to others, there are serious issues with “Crisp Ratt” and his off-screen persona.
Any time that a Twitter poll goes around asking which “Chris” should be eliminated, Chris Pratt is the winner.
Part of that is because he goes up against Chris Evans, Chris Pines, and Chris Hemsworth — that is a very stacked deck.
The other reason is that many people no longer believe that he is a good person, and question if he ever was.
Years ago, Chris was called out by Elliot Page for attending a homophobic church.
Zoe Church, which he attends, is a spinoff of the infamous Hillsong Church, which is notorious for its views, practices, and for catering to celebrities.
Chris has alleged that Zoe Church is not bigoted because it “opens its doors” to “everyone,” which many felt was an evasive reply.
In addition to genuine concerns about Chris’ moral stances, he also just seems to rub people the wrong way.
Recently, he has been announced as the voice of Mario in an upcoming film and in an upcoming Garfield film.
Many are tired of big name actors being cast over actual voice actors … but that goes double when they already dislike the actor.
So last week, on the heels of the world learning that he would voice yet another character, Chris posted a tribute to wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
Sometimes, it’s an offensive photo that upsets fans. Sometimes, it’s a disrespectful caption.
This time, it’s a little of both, and they go hand in hand. Take a look:
Chris shared this photo of Katherine staring at him with rapturous adoration.
While it’s familiar to those of us who follow the activities of how women in fundamentalist cults stare at their husbands, many were confused.
Staring lovingly at your spouse is normal. Staring at your spouse like he’s a beacon of holy light while he just looks into the camera is … weird. Even creepy.
Because of the strangeness of the photo and Chris’ very timely unpopularity, the photo made the rounds.
More and more people read the caption below the photo.
This is when people went from “haha that’s bizarre” to being outright disgusted.
“Guys. For real. Look how she’s looking at me!” Chris Pratt’s Instagram caption began.
“I mean. Find you somebody that looks at you like that!! You know!?” he wrote.
“We met in church. She’s given me an amazing life, a gorgeous healthy daughter,” Chris listed.
Chris then began the negging: “She chews so loudly that sometimes i put in my ear buds to drown it out, but that’s love!”
“She helps me with everything. In return, periodically, I open a jar of pickles,” he quipped. “That’s the trade.”
Like a Disney villain, Chris added: “Her heart is pure and it belongs to me.”
“My greatest treasure right next to my Ken Griffey Jr Upper Deck Rookie card. Which if you know, you know is saying a lot,” Chris continued.
“It’s her birthday in about 6 weeks,” he noted.
“So if I don’t get her anything, I’ll tell her to look back on this post,” Chris concluded. “Love you honey.”
Some of that tongue-in-cheek weirdness rubbed people the wrong way, and understandably so.
Ordinarily, we might go “wow, that’s not normal, but maybe they have that kind of relationship” and maybe try for a Schwarz-e-neg-her joke.
But there was one detail of his post — part of the praise, actually — that had readers seeing red.
Chris praised Katherine for the health of their daughter, Lyla.
Lyla is not Chris’ first child. He has a son, Jack, with Anna Faris.
Jack was born nine weeks prematurely in 2012, weighing less than four pounds and having multiple health issues.
Normally, celebrating the birth of a healthy baby is not shady at all.
In this case, it seems that Chris was either being thoughtless or deliberately cruel — towards his ex and towards his son.
Jack’s infant health crisis was a defining element of Chris’ increasingly devout Christian faith. Why would he be so insensitive?
So the entire internet hit back, voicing their disgust.
Chris’ name trended. Anna Faris’ name trended, for the opposite reason, as people showered her with love and support.
Clearly, Chris saw all of that, because on Friday, he posted a video to his Instagram Stories that we have included in this post.
“I went to bed last night really kind of upset and depressed,” Chris said on Friday, November 5.
“And I woke up feeling crappy,” he lamented, “and I didn’t want to work out.”
“I knew though that if I put on my Christian music playlist and I got out of the woods and ran that I’d feel better,” Chris continued.
“But I just didn’t want to,” Chris explained.
“I did it anyways, and gosh, I was right,” he announced, “it felt amazing.”
“I just want to say all glory to God,” Chris then expressed.
“And if you feel down today, maybe exercise or maybe listen to some good worship music or get the word in,” Chris suggested.
He advised this “because it really helped me this morning.”
While we don’t doubt Chris’ description of how he spent his morning … is that all that he was doing?
First of all, it looked like an indirect response to the backlash against him, though he did not acknowledge any of it.
(And his weird creepy tribute is still up and unchanged)
Second, many have now accused him of trying to hide behind his faith by bringing it up in this context, as if his words should be above reproach.
Many Parks and Recreation fans have had a hard time reconciling the man whom Chris played (and even seemed to be in real life at the time) with who he is now.
Insulting your child, intentionally or by thoughtlessness, is not good. Using your religion to deflect criticism is unworthy.
Chris seems to be an enjoyable person to work with, according to other actors. That may be so. It does not make him a good person.
