Chris Pratt's fellow MCU stars clearly have his back.
On Tuesday, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo shared separate social media in which they defended the Guardians of the Galaxy star against his online critics. Calls to cancel Pratt were reignited last week when TV writer/producer Amy Berg posted a "one has to go" tweet featuring Pratt and three other famous Chrises: Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, and Chris Evans.
Many of the respondents chose Pratt, citing his alleged political and social beliefs as the primary reasons to cancel him. Twitter users accused the 41-year-old actor of being a Republican Trump supporter who holds anti-LGBT views. Some pointed to the fact that Pratt will not participate in the "Voters Assemble" event in support of the Biden-Harris campaign. A number of Marvel stars, including Ruffalo and Evans, signed on to join the virtual fundraiser; however, many others, like Downey, will not appear.
The anti-LGBT allegations stem from claims that Pratt was part of a church that did not support LGBT rights; however, he later shut down those allegations in a 2019 Instagram story.
"It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which 'hates a certain group of people' and is 'infamously anti --LGBTQ,'" he wrote, as reported by CNN. "Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone."
Following days of renewed backlash, Downey sent a message to those who still question Pratt's character.
"Chris Pratt... A real Christian who lives by principle, has never demonstrated anything but positivity and gratitude," he wrote on Instagram. "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 ..."
Ruffalo made a similar statement on Twitter, insisting Pratt was a "solid man" and all the controversy surrounding his purported beliefs is simply a "distraction."
