Guardians of the Galaxy director defends Chris Pratt following calls for him to be replaced

29 April 2022, 11:53

Chris Pratt Completes A Rubik's Cube Mid-Interview

By Jazmin Duribe

"Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him."

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Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has defended Chris Pratt following calls for him to be replaced.

In case you didn't know, the Marvel actor has become quite a controversial character on social media in recent years and has been labelled as the 'worst Hollywood Chris'. Not only have people found issue with the way he refers to his son Jack in comparison to his daughter Lyla, he has previously received backlash for mocking the importance of voting during the 2020 presidential election.

However, the thing Chris really can't shake is his affiliation with Hillsong Church which Elliot Page previously referred to as "infamously anti-LGBTQ" back in 2019.

At the time, Chris defended the institution in a statement shared on Instagram. He wrote: "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."

Guardians of the Galaxy director defends Chris Pratt following calls for him to be replaced. Picture: Alamy, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

"I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone. Despite what the Bible says about divorce, my church community was there for me every stop of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender."

People have called for Chris to be kicked out of the MCU and on Sunday (Apr 24) a viral tweet called for him to be replaced as Star-Lord. "Marvel. Hear me out. Just...replace him," a user tweeted, alongside a photo of The Conjuring star Patrick Wilson.

In response, James – who has directed Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is set for release in 2023 – defended Chris, tweeting back: "For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that’s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him."

In a follow-up tweet, James also replied to another user who we can only assume mentioned Chris' affiliation with Hillsong (the user has locked their account so the tweet is unavailable).

He tweeted: "He isn’t. I know the church he currently goes to. Do you? (The answer is you don’t, but you heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone where he goes to church, so decided, 'yeah, okay, I’ll believe this terrible thing I heard online about this celebrity!')"

For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that’s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 25, 2022

He isn’t. I know the church he currently goes to. Do you? (The answer is you don’t, but you heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone where he goes to church, so decided, “yeah, okay, I’ll believe this terrible thing I heard online about this celebrity!”)
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 25, 2022