Chris Pratt has apologised for appearing to disregard fans who suffer from hearing impairments, after sharing a post that he has since branded “incredibly insensitive” on Instagram.
The ‘Guardians Of the Galaxy’ actor originally posted a now-deleted update, with a caption that urged fans “turn up the volume and not just read the subtitles”.
However, this led to annoyance for some hearing-impaired fans (via Variety) and it was claimed that his words were dismissive of those who do not have the option to listen.
In response, he’s shared a lengthy, heartfelt apology on the social networking site.
It read: “I realise now [my comment] was incredibly insensitive to the many folks out there who depend on subtitles.
“More than 38 million Americans live with some sort of hearing disability. So I want to apologize.
“I have people in my life who are hearing-impaired, and the last thing in the world I would want to do is offend them or anybody who suffers from hearing loss or any other disability. So truly from the bottom of my heart I apologize [sic].
“Thanks for pointing this out to me. In the future I’ll try to be a little less ignorant about it.
“Now... I know some of you are going to say, ‘Hey! Chris only apologized because his publicist made him!’ Well. That is not the case. As always I control my social media. Nobody else.
“And I am doing this because I’m actually really sorry. Apologies are powerful. I don’t dole them out Willy-Nilly.
“This is one of those moments where I screwed up and here’s me begging your pardon. I hope you accept my apology.”
He also went on to call for Instagram to automatically subtitle clips.
“Shouldn’t there be an option for closed captioning or something?” Chris wrote. “I’ve made them lord knows how much money with my videos and pictures. Essentially sharing myself for free. I know they profit. So... GET ON IT INSTAGRAM!!! Put closed captioning on your app.”
Chris is currently busy promoting the second instalment of ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’, which looks set to bring in more than $250 million in worldwide box office takings this weekend.
Last month, he addressed the backlash around one of his other releases, admitting that he was still “proud” of his performance in ‘Passengers’, despite the controversy surrounding the film.