Chris Pratt is facing backlash online over a recent Instagram post dedicated to his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
Christopher Michael Pratt, 42, is an American actor known for starring in television, as well as action and animated films.
Pratt and Anna Faris met in 2007 and got engaged in late 2008. They were married in Bali, Indonesia on July 9, 2009, eloping on a whim after a friend’s wedding. They lived in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Their son, Jack, was born in August 2012, nine weeks premature and weighing only 1.7 kg. Pratt stated that the birth of his preterm son “really defined” his faith in God, after both he and his wife “prayed a lot” as they were initially afraid of the baby’s prognosis. The couple split in 2017 and finalized their divorce the following year.
Pratt then began a relationship with author Katherine Schwarzenegger in June 2018 and on January 13, 2019, Pratt announced that he and Schwarzenegger were engaged. In August 2020 their first child together, Lyla Maria, was born.
The actor took to Instagram on Wednesday to heap praise on the author and in his adoring post, he explained to his 33.4 million followers why he loves her.
Alongside a snap of Schwarzenegger smiling at him, Pratt wrote: “Guys. For real. Look how she’s looking at me! I mean. Find you somebody that looks at you like that!! You know!? We met in church. She’s given me an amazing life, a gorgeous healthy daughter, 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. That’s the trade. 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. It’s her birthday in about 6 weeks. So if I don’t get her anything, I’ll tell her to look back on this post. Love you, honey,” he wrote.
The post was immediately jumped upon because it was interpreted as a passive-aggressive swipe at his ex, Anna Faris.
Their nine-year-old son, Jack, was born prematurely, and reportedly with some health problems at the time and spent his first month in the NICU. He has undergone numerous surgeries for several health issues in the first few years of his life.
In her memoir, Unqualified, Faris recalled the “emotionally exhausting” time that followed Jack’s birth, as well as the moment she and Pratt were informed by the pediatric surgeon that “Jack had some severe brain bleeding and there was a chance that he could be developmentally disabled,” according to People.
The post has earned over 2.1 million likes, with supportive comments and Schwarzenegger certainly seems to approve, and shared his post in her Instagram Stories.
But of the thousands of comments that have poured in, some people thought thanking his wife for his “healthy daughter” was offensive to his son.
“Why mention she gave you a healthy daughter?” one commenter said. “Are you bitter that your son was premature and has health issues?? That’s such a passive-aggressive statement.”
“As a special needs parent, you triggered me when you said she gave you a “healthy” daughter,” another has added. “Like implying your last wife didn’t? Your kiddo has special needs and he’s special and healthy too! You should praise her for everything she’s been through. And him too. Just sayin’, that wasn’t Christian-like, dude.”
“Imagine having a disabled child and bragging about the ‘healthy’ child,” a third viewer wrote.
“I love Chris Pratt, but the “healthy daughter” part made me wince,” someone tweeted, referencing the post.
“Chris Pratt has a kid with Anna Farris who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage during birth and now has slight physical disabilities because of it,” someone added. “But he made sure to write ‘healthy daughter’ here. Chris Pratt is a [redacted].”
On Twitter, Anna Faris began to trend as thousands of people shared their support for the actor following what many perceived to be an indirect criticism from Pratt.
“I hope Anna Faris and her son Jack are out living their best lives today,” one person tweeted.
Neither Pratt nor Faris have commented on the hostile responses from people.