Chris Pratt divides fans with apology to UFC fighter Israel Adesanya

‘Damn sad to see Chris Pratt fold like this,’ wrote one person

Chris Pratt has apologised to UFC fighter Israel Adesanya after the sportsman hit back at Pratt’s criticism of his performance.

Appearing on ESPN after Adesanya’s middleweight bout against Jared Cannonier on Saturday (2 July), Pratt had said that Adesanya’s dramatic entrance to the ring did not live up to his performance, despite him taking home the win.

The Jurassic World star said that Adesanya had “all that talk” only to go into the octagon and “do a little bit of pitter-patter”.

On Wednesday (6 July), the fighter responded with a tweet captioned: “Good morning. I’m the man. You’re just some fan.”

Alongside the message, he included a clip from the 2008 film Wanted in which James McAvoy smashes Pratt’s character in the face with a keyboard and says: “I’m the man.”

Pratt has since apologised for his remarks, replying to Adesanya’s tweet: “You’re right. I’m sorry brutha. It bugs me when people criticise my work – having never themselves risked anything.

“It makes me a hypocrite to do exactly that to you. My bad. Keep on keeping on champ.”

The actor accompanied the message with a heart emoji and a prayer hands emoji.

(Twitter)

Pratt’s apology has been met with a mixed reception from fans, with some praising the star for demonstrating “class” and others for backing down on criticism that was “entirely fair and valid”.

One user wrote: “The criticism you gave was entirely fair and valid. Izzy even said he had an off night. I don’t know why he’s being so insecure and coming for an actor lmao.”

“Damn sad to see Chris Pratt fold like this lol, everything he said was true,” someone added, with another writing: “Don’t apologise man.”

(Twitter)

Others have welcomed the apology, with one fan writing: “Well said.”

A fifth person said: “You are a good man Pratt. Respect.”

“It’s called humility, wich makes me a fan of his,” added another.

Pratt has faced criticism online recently over his alleged association with evangelical church Hillsong, the unsubstantiated claim he voted for Donald Trump in the US election and a controversial post he shared about his daughter, Lyla.

(Twitter)

After a Men’s Health interview with Pratt was published earlier this week, in which he discussed the criticism and denied ever going to Hillsong, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn defended Pratt over repeated claims he’s the “worst” Hollywood Chris.

When a person branded Pratt a Trump supporter, the director replied: “Will you guys please quit making up s***?”

This isn’t the first time Gunn has defended his Guardians of the Galaxy lead star.

Pratt can currently be seen in Prime Video series The Terminal List (find The Independent’s review here), and will be in Thor: Love & Thunder, which is released on 8 July.