Katherine Schwarzenegger, the eldest daughter of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has taken to social media to defend her new husband, Chris Pratt, from backlash over allegations of Pratt being a “closet Trump supporter.” Her outrage stemmed from a four-way poll where fans had to choose which Hollywood actor by the name of Chris was the one that “has to go,” with Pratt winning and earning the title of “worst Chris.”
On October 17, filmmaker Amy Berg shared an image of a quadrant containing the profiles of Pratt, Chris Evans, Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth with the caption “One has to go,” egging followers to decide which Chris they could live without. Most replies were aimed at Pratt, whom many accused of being a closeted Trump supporter. One fan alleged that Pratt was a member of an anti-LGBT church. Though no clear evidence to support any of these accusations exists, many cited an old image of Pratt in a Gadsen flag T-shirt, an image of a coiled snake with the words “Don’t Tread On Me,” a phrase popular among American libertarians.
The fuss caught the eyes of some high-profile celebrities, who were critical of all the negativity aimed at the Jurassic Park star. Among them was his wife Katherine, a Biden supporter, who replied to the post. “Is this really what we need?” she wrote. “There’s so much going on in the world, and people struggling in so many ways. Being mean is so yesterday. There’s enough room to love all these guys. Love is what we all need, not meanness and bullying. Let’s try that.”
Many of Pratt’s fellow Marvel stars were quick also defend Pratt. Robert Downey Jr. shared an image of the two on set together with the caption, “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… AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value. If you take issue with Chris,,, I’ve got a novel idea. Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of #character, work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness… @prattprattpratt I #gotyerbackbackback.”
Mark Ruffalo followed suit with a tweet that read, “You all, @prattprattpratt is as solid a man there is. I know him personally, and instead of casting aspersions, look at how he lives his life. He is just not overtly political as a rule. This is a distraction. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, friends. We are so close now.”
