Following a weekend filled with social media targeting of actor Chris Pratt for skipping out on a fundraiser in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, fellow actor Robert Downey Jr. took to social media to defend Pratt.
“What a world… The ‘sinless’ are casting stones at my brother, Chris Pratt… A real Christian who lives by principle, has never demonstrated anything but positivity and gratitude,” Downey said in a post published Tuesday.
“AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value,” he continued.
“If you take issue with Chris,,, I’ve got a novel idea,” concluded Downey. “Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of character, work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness… @PrattPrattPratt I #gotyerbackbackback.”
Pratt broke ranks with fellow “Avengers” actors and opted out of the pro-Biden event set for Tuesday, called the “Voters Assemble: The Cast of The Avengers Unite for Democracy.”
“On Tuesday, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, and Zoe Saldana will participate in a fundraising event to support Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris,” Vanity Fair reported.
“Yet while there was broad interest in the latest star-studded push for the Biden campaign, it’s the absence of one key Avengers star that has caused the biggest stir on social media,” the outlet noted. “Shortly after the event was announced, Chris Pratt’s name trended on Twitter, with many criticizing the Guardians of the Galaxy star for his perceived political views.”
As noted by The Daily Wire, Pratt was ridiculed over the weekend for allegedly radiating “homophobic white Christian supremacist energy,” among other left-wing attacks.
“Pratt is open about his Christian faith but has not been overtly political in his public statements,” reported The Daily Wire. “Pratt told Men’s Fitness in 2017, ‘I don’t feel represented by either side. I really feel there’s common ground out there that’s missed because we focus on the things that separate us.’ He was also photographed wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Gadsden flag, which was popular with many conservative groups.”
Back in 2019, Pratt found himself defending his church after actress Ellen Page said it was “infamously anti –LBGTQ.”
“It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti –LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” Pratt posted via social media. “I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
“My faith is important to me but no church defines me or my life and I am not spokesman for any church or any group of people,” he said. “My values define who I am. We need less hate in this world, not more. I am a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgment of their fellow man. … Jesus said, ‘I give you a new command, love one another.’ This is what guides me in my life. He is a God of Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Hate has no place in my or this world.”