Ellen Page will not back down. After calling out Chris Pratt for attending and endorsing "infamously [anti-LGBTQ+]" Zoe Church last week, the Umbrella Academy star has reiterated her point of view.
"If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed," Page tweeted on Saturday. "Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all."
She added:
"If lgbtq+ people are expressing their pain, their trauma, their experiences...maybe just try and listen? Open your heart, stop being defensive and have compassion. It’s a beautiful and life changing feeling, empathy. Much love truly to all."
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If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 9, 2019
If lgbtq+ people are expressing their pain, their trauma, their experiences...maybe just try and listen? Open your heart, stop being defensive and have compassion. It’s a beautiful and life changing feeling, empathy.
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 9, 2019
Much love truly to all.
Page is seemingly the only Hollywood Ellen willing to directly question Pratt's involvement in the church — at least in public.
Pratt appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday, where he was asked hard-hitting questions like "Which Hollywood Chris is sexiest?"
This article was originally posted on February 8, 2019.
Ellen Page was not charmed by Chris Pratt's interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. The LEGO Movie 2 star stopped by to chat about what's been going on his life recently (pointedly not mentioning fiancé Katherine Schwarzenegger), which included The Daniel Fast — a fast he participated in through his church, Zoe.
"I just came off it a couple of days ago," Pratt told Colbert. "It's a 21-day fast. A lot of people are doing it. I did it through my church. It's based on the Book of Daniel...He's a guy who only ate fruits and vegetables and grains and didn't have any leavened breads or animal products. So I was inspired by my pastor. It's kind of like our lent. We give something up. So for 21 days I had no meat, no sugar, and no alcohol. It was actually amazing."
Zoe is lead by former Hillsong church pastor Chad Veach. Hillsong is an Australia-based Christian church that has attracted a number of celebrities like Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, but that's not the only thing it's known for...
"Oh. K. Um," Ellen Page wrote on Twitter in response to the interview. "But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?" Page's tweets follow her recent appearance on the same late night show where she delivered a passionate speech about protecting LGBTQ+ people in the wake of the racist attack on Jussie Smollett.
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Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too? https://t.co/meg8m69FeF
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 8, 2019
Page's statements appear to be referencing Beach's Hillsong past. Back in August 2015, Hillsong global pastor Brian Houston released a statement addressing rumors that the church is not supportive LGBTQ people.
"I do believe God’s word is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman," he wrote, later adding, "Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid. I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world."
While Pratt has always been Christian, he's become more publicly religious in the past three years or so, attending church with his new fiancée and thanking God both on social media and in speeches.
Refinery29 has reached out to Pratt, Page, and Hillsong for comment. Watch the interview below.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.