Why Twitter Keeps Canceling Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt at San Diego Comic Con in 2016. Creative Commons photo.
(ANALYSIS) Chris Pratt is trending on Twitter again.
And no, it’s not because of news about “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” or any other acting projects. It’s over a discussion of his faith and politics.
On Saturday, television writer Amy Berg tweeted a version of the popular “one has to go” meme, in which users respond out of four choices and decide which one they like least — and would get rid of.
In this case, the options were four Hollywood star “Chrises”: Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine and Chris Evans.
A majority of the replies and quote tweets say Pratt’s the one that has to go. Television writer and critic Ira Madison III replied with, “This isn’t hard!!!!” with the assumption that others would understand the public opinion on Pratt.
And yesterday, Variety reported that several “Avengers” cast members will be holding a virtual rally for Joe Biden ahead of the November election. Actors Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana will attend the event. Many are known specifically for their activism on social media and in other spaces: Mark Ruffalo, for example, has been an advocate of climate change for years.
Pratt wasn’t mentioned in any of the articles about the event, nor were the names of other Marvel actors who are not participants. It isn’t clear whether he was asked to attend.
But in discussions on Twitter, Pratt’s name was consistently mentioned as missing from the lineup—often through the use of memes.
Why the dislike of Pratt?
The original controversy dates back to February 2019, when Pratt talked about his faith — along with his recent 21-day fast, modeled off the diet of Daniel in the Bible — on the Stephen Colbert show.
The Hollywood Reporter tweeted about Pratt’s appearance on the show, referencing Pratt’s “spiritual side.”
In response, LGBTQ actress Ellen Page tweeted “Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?”
The church in question is Los Angeles’ Zoe Church, an evangelical megachurch Pratt regularly attends with his now-wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
In an interview with The Christian Post in 2014, ahead of the church’s founding, head pastor Chad Veach didn’t say much about a political stance his church might have. In fact, he seemed to suggest the opposite.
"I think some people get themselves in a lot of trouble by trying to make statements about subjects that I don't think are gonna heal anybody. I don't think they're gonna bring that much health to people's souls,” he said. “So I think as long as we keep pointing people to Jesus, he's gonna deal with the heart issues, he's gonna deal with lifestyle stuff."
Veach was also executive producer of a movie about “sexual brokenness” — which included discussion of same sex attraction.
Otherwise, information about the church’s stance on LGBTQ issues or politics as a whole are not to be found in any official capacity.
Soon after Page’s backlash, Pratt himself responded on his Instagram story by saying that his church “opens their doors to absolutely everyone."
Since this time, however, despite no other statements from Pratt or the church, many internet users on the left have interpreted this — and other things, like a photo of Pratt wearing a shirt with the Gadsden flag on it — to mean that Pratt is a homophobic Trump supporter.
Little actual evidence or statements from the parties involved make this issue a difficult one to resolve for those who would like to hold Pratt accountable for the beliefs of his church.
It also makes it a handy conversation topic to bring up every few months to start a trend on Twitter.
Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and Evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.