Chris Pratt’s partnership with the prayer app Hallow, which social media users have dubbed “anti-abortion,” is bringing the movie star major backlash.
Pratt is the latest celebrity to be called out for the partnership, following singer Gwen Stefani, who was slammed by fans back in December. Pratt’s partnership isn’t new—he began promoting the app in January 2024. But his latest promos are getting attention, as Redditors blasted the ads on Thursday.
“Sorry but taking money from an app to get people to pray, which is famously free, shows zero integrity, both as a Christian and a human,” wrote one.
Hallow, which promotes the platform as the “#1-rated Catholic prayer and meditation application,” offers a free version. The optional paid subscription costs $10.99 a month for an individual account, $69.99 a year for the annual option, and $119.99 a year for its “Friends and Family” plan.
Wrote one Reddit user, “I saw an ad offering 3 free months. Charging someone for a prayer app seems like the kind of thing Jesus would flip tables over.”
Mark Wahlberg has been an investor, celebrity spokesperson, and occasional narrator for the app since 2022. Pratt wrote on his Wednesday post for Hallow, “It is time, Lent is here, and this year I’ll be back on @hallowapp leading the Fasting Friday challenges again alongside @markwahlberg.”
The actors often promote the app together and last appeared together in a Hallow ad posted to social media last week. “Following Jesus was never meant to be done alone,” Wahlberg says in their latest video.
Trump-friendly billionaire Peter Thiel is also a key financial backer of Hallow.
On Thursday, Reddit users accused Pratt of being part of “the religious grift.” Others slammed him personally, calling the Guardians of the Galaxy star “the worst Chris.” One suggested Marvel edit Pratt out of the blockbuster franchise and replace him with comedian Tig Notaro.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Pratt’s representative for comment.
Blowback against Stefani had a different tone when Chrishell Stause, a former Selling Sunset star, led the charge against the singer for her Hallow Christmas promo.
“Gwen-DON’T SPEAK,” Stause wrote in the comments section of one of Stefani’s Instagram ads, referencing a popular No Doubt song. Stause later clarified in posts to her Instagram Stories, “She is taking money to promote an app that encourages anti-abortion even in cases of [rape] or incest. Please stop making young girls guilty to not have a choice.”
She added, “If your child got pregnant by a pedophile, would you want Gwen Stefani making her feel guilty to keep it? I wouldn’t.”
As for Pratt, some users interpret his promotion of Hallow as further confirmation of his right-leaning views. The actor has never endorsed a candidate or discussed politics in any meaningful way (aside from his “both sides” post-election take in 2024).
He parroted MAGA talking points during a sit-down with Bill Maher in August while discussing his cousin-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA initiatives.
“I’d hate to be so mired in hatred for the president that any success from his administration is something I’d have an allergic reaction to. To be like, ‘Oh, well, if they do it, I don’t want it to happen. I’ll put Clorox in my children’s cereal myself,’” he quipped to the host. “It’s like, come on, be reasonable here. There’s certain things that would be a good thing to have.”
Fans previously discovered that Pratt was consuming content from social media accounts that circulate alt-right sentiments and homophobia. Fellow actor Elliot Page called him out in 2019 for publicly aligning himself with Christian figures who spread anti-LGBTQ messages.
Pratt has consistently spoken publicly about his Christian faith, but has also said that he doesn’t want to be “the face of religion.”
