Chris Pratt Reacts to Internet Hatred, Religion Criticism and Backlash for ‘Healthy Daughter’ Comment

It’s a conversation that has been going on for years on social media, with calls for Pratt to be axed from the MCU amid speculation about his religious beliefs and politics, as well as comments some interpreted to be disrespectful to his son Jack and ex-wife Anna Faris.

“You don’t ever wanna get caught complaining or anything, ’cause I have so many blessings. I consider everything a blessing truly in my life,” he told the publication, before adding, “Why are they coming after me?”

“Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn and “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow both defended Pratt in the piece — with Gunn saying the commentary “absolutely infuriates” him and is based on “stuff that people have literally just made up about him.” Pratt, meanwhile, believes it stems from publicly talking about and thanking God during a speech at the MTV Movie & TV Awards — adding that he gets why talk of religion can be off-putting.

“Religion has been oppressive as f— for a long time. I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person. I think there’s a distinction between being religious — adhering to the customs created by man, oftentimes appropriating the awe reserved for who I believe is a very real God — and using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred,” he told Men’s Health. “Whatever it is. The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed on to the back of religion and come along for the ride.”

He clarified that he “never went to Hillsong” and doesn’t know anyone from that church, and told the publication he attends Zoe Church and had his daughter Lyla baptized in a normal Catholic church in Santa Monica.

While he said he’s learned that Twitter isn’t real life, Pratt added that’s something his son Jack hasn’t learned yet. Jack, Pratt’s 9-year-old son with ex-wife Anna Faris, became a public talking point late last year after the actor praised wife Katherine Schwarzenegger on social media for giving him “a gorgeous healthy daughter.” Critics took it as a slight against Faris and his son, who faced health problems as a baby after he was born nine weeks premature, leaving him with some physical limitations, including visual impairments.

“I said something like, ‘Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me.’ And then I gave her some s— in the thing and said, ‘But I love you. I’m so thankful for my wife — she gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter.’ And then a bunch of articles came out and said, ‘That’s so cringeworthy. I can’t believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature. That’s such a dig at his ex-wife,'” he recalled of the backlash.

“And I’m like, That is fucked up. My son’s gonna read that one day. He’s nine. And it’s etched in digital stone,” he continued. “It really f—ing bothered me, dude. I cried about it. I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are — to the people close to me — a real burden.”

Read Pratt’s full profile from the July/August 2022 of Men’s Health here.