Chris Pratt ‘Dont Tread On Me’ T-Shirt Article Draws Backlash
Chris Pratt is a popular actor who is best known for his roles in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World franchise. He is also known for a role on the beloved sitcom Parks & Recreation and his marriages, first to actress Anna Faris and more recently to author Katherine Schwarzenegger.
Pratt, as is rare in Hollywood, is also outspoken about his Christian faith. Earlier this year, per The Inquisitr, Pratt was criticized by actress Ellen Page for his membership in what Page characterized as an anti-LGBTQ church. Pratt responded with an Instagram post, in which he declared that his Hillsong church “opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
Now, Pratt is part of a different controversy, one which has caused a significant backlash.
Yahoo Movies UK ran a story Tuesday with the headline “Chris Pratt criticised for T-shirt choice.” Pratt was photographed this week, alongside his new wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, wearing a T-shirt with the Gadsden flag. An icon of the American Revolution, the flag features a snake atop the American flag with the phrase “Don’t Tread On Me” below.
The Yahoo article notes that while the slogan is associated with various noncontroversial subjects like the U.S. men’s national soccer team and Metallica (which has a song called “Don’t Tread On Me”), “over the years the flag has been adopted by Far Right political groups like the Tea Party, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment.”
The original headline, per a tweet, referred to Pratt’s attire in the picture as a “‘white supremacist’ t-shirt.”
What’s odd about the Yahoo article is that it shows Pratt is being criticized by a handful of Twitter users, with little indication that there is any major groundswell against the actor’s choice of T-shirts. In addition, multiple tweets cited in the article have since been deleted.
Yahoo says no one is safe! https://t.co/zVUGhcjell
— Doug Maverick (@DougMaverick) July 17, 2019
While it doesn’t appear that Pratt has been heavily scrutinized for the shirt, Yahoo was criticized for the article about it.
“Thanks for making all of our jobs harder, Yahoo,” Washington Post political reporter Aaron Blake tweeted.
“So an historical symbol+motto about independence and resisting tyranny is white supremacist now? These nutters cannot be taken seriously,” editor Geoffrey A. Plauché? tweeted in response.
“Pretty sure Yahoo exists only because everyone was too lazy to switch their fantasy football leagues over to ESPN,” Chris Faulkner joked on Twitter.
Pratt does not appear to have made any public comments about the reaction to his T-shirt.
