Chris Pratt took to Instagram to address the controversy invented over his loving tribute to his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, in which the “Tomorrow War” star thanked her for giving him a “gorgeous healthy daughter.”
Some decided to take the “healthy daughter” phrase as a dig at Pratt’s ex-wife Anna Faris and their son, Jack, who has several health issues.
“I went to bed last night really kind of upset and depressed and I woke up feeling crappy and I didn’t want to work out,” Pratt said in a video posted to Instagram.
Pratt said he worked through the depression by listening to Christian music and exercising.
“I knew that if I put on my Christian music playlist and I got out of the woods and ran that I’d feel better but I just didn’t want to and I did it anyways and gosh was I right. It felt amazing. I got out of the woods, got my blood pumping,” he said.
Pratt said that he rarely gets emotional “that often but I actually got emotional out in the woods.”
“It felt like there was another in the fire standing next to me,” he added.
The actor also suggested others could get through their depression using a similar tactic.
“If you feel down today, maybe get in an exercise and maybe listen to some good worship music or get the word in ’cause it really helped me this morning,” he said.
As The Daily Wire reported on Friday, Pratt posted a photo of himself and Schwarzenegger with a caption that read (emphasis added):
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.
It’s the “gorgeous healthy daughter” part that has many people angered. Pratt was previously married to Faris, and the two have a son together, Jack, who was born premature and has had some minor health issues. As Page Six reported, Jack was “born premature and had to undergo numerous operations as a result. He weighed just 3 pounds, 12 ounces at birth.”
In 2018, Faris spoke about her son’s health issues on her podcast, “Unqualified.”
“When Jack was born two months early, it came as a huge shock. And suddenly, your world completely shifts,” Faris said, according to E! News. “Jack had a few surgeries. He had a few hernia surgeries, he’s had a few eye surgeries, and he had a little heart issue as well.”
Many fans saw Pratt’s Instagram post as a tribute to his current wife, not as an insult to his son from a previous marriage. It’s not like Pratt hasn’t spoken lovingly about his son before.
In 2014, Pratt spoke about his son’s health problems at the March of Dimes Celebration of Babies.
“I’ve done all kinds of cool things as an actor — I’ve jumped out of helicopters and done some daring stunts and played baseball in a professional stadium, but none of it means anything compared to being somebody’s daddy,” Pratt said in his speech at the event, according to Variety. While Jack was in the NICU, Pratt said he cherished moments where he’d cradle his son skin-to-skin. “I made promises in that moment about what kind of dad I wanted to be and I just prayed that he’d live long enough that I could keep them.”