Chris Pratt has sparked a debate by posting a Mother’s Day tribute that didn’t include mention of his ex Anna Faris, with whom he shares 10-year-old son Jack.
The 43-year-old actor took to Instagram on Sunday to share a photo of himself with his mother Kathy, wife Katherine Schwarzenegger and mother-in-law Maria Shriver. His caption began with praise of Schwarzenegger, who is the mother of two of his children: Lyla, two, and Eloise, 11 months.
“You’re a wonderful partner,” he wrote. “You’ve provided me [with] such a blessed life. Our two daughters are so lucky to have you and you’re the best step mama to Jack.”
Pratt went on to give shoutouts to Kathy and Shriver, before concluding his post by celebrating all mothers in general.
“And to my mom, Kathy, you raised us with such love and light and laughter— so grateful for you today and always. And to Maria, the best Mama G, I’m lucky to have you as a mother-in-law,” he wrote. “And to all of the other moms in my life, I’m so grateful for all you do- thank you so much. Hope you feel celebrated today.”
In the comments of the post, many Instagram users criticised Pratt for leaving out Faris, the mother of his eldest child.
“Oh yes, let’s leave out Jack’s mom, the one who gave you your first child,” one sarcastic critic wrote.
“That was very nice recognition of the mothers in your life, wife, mom, mom in law, however it would not have killed you to acknowledge the mother of your first child by name,” another added. “Like really!”
“Wow. Dissing your ex-wife. Be a better man & mention her as well, the mother of your child. Even that football dude mentioned his two baby mommas,” a third commented, referring to Tom Brady’s Mother’s Day post for his two exes, Gisele Bündchen and Bridget Moynahan.
However, other people defended the Guardians of the Galaxy star by saying that he didn’t have to post about his ex on this holiday and that he could have been referring to her at the end of his caption.
“He literally said happy Mother’s Day to ALL of the mothers out there, that includes his ex, everyone calm down,” one fan wrote.
“I don’t recall her posting about him for Father’s Day,” another added. “Not sure why people don’t have the same energy in her comments. Just because you have children with someone doesn’t mean you’re obligated to post about them for any reason. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
A third said: “The most uncontroversial post ever, and people are still finding a way to ruin it. Great pic. Happy for you.”
This isn’t the first time that one of Pratt’s Instagram posts has sparked backlash. In November 2021, he posted a picture of his wife and thanked her for giving him a “gorgeous, healthy daughter”. While many of his followers praised this post, other accused Pratt of being “passive aggressive” towards Faris, who has been open about their son’s health issues.
Pratt and Faris’ son was born prematurely, with the Scary Movie star previously revealing that Jack weighed just three pounds and 12 ounces at birth and spent his first month in the NICU. In her memoir Unqualified, Faris also recalled the moment that she and Pratt were informed by the paediatric surgeon that “Jack had some severe brain bleeding and there was a chance that he could be developmentally disabled,” according to People.
During an interview with Men’s Health in June 2022, Pratt publicly addressed the backlash to his post for his spouse and expressed how “f***ed up it was”.
“My son’s gonna read that one day. He’s nine. And it’s etched in digital stone,” he explained. “It really f**king bothered me, dude. I cried about it. I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are – to the people close to me – a real burden.”
Although she wasn’t included in her ex’s recent Mother’s Day tribute, Faris did share in November 2022 that she was “getting closer” to Pratt and his partner.
“They’re very protective of me, and I want to be very protective of them. I so appreciate their support,” she said during an interview with People. “It feels just much easier now that time has passed. It feels really good to not live with that internal churning of unpleasantness.”
She also called Schwarzenegger “awesome”, before adding: “She’s just on top of it. I love how she is with Jack.”
