Conservative social media lit up after Yahoo Movies U.K. posted a nonstory about supposed outrage over a T-shirt actor Chris Pratt wore depicting the Gadsden flag.
Hunter Harris, a writer at the culture outlet Vulture, posted a tweet with a picture of Pratt with his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger. Pratt was wearing a shirt featuring a modified Gadsden flag with its slogan, “Don’t Tread on Me.” The tweet included a second photo zoomed in on the flag on Pratt’s shirt.
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) July 15, 2019
A writer at Yahoo Movies U.K., whose byline has since been removed from the piece, scoured the replies of the tweet and came up with six examples of outrage all from non-verified accounts. The accounts had a total of around 19,000 followers, according to the Washington Post.
Along with the writer’s byline, the title of the piece has also been updated from “Chris Pratt criticised for ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt” to “Chris Pratt criticised for T-shirt choice.”
The Gadsden flag is a Revolutionary War-era symbol that represented the American colonies banding together to resist British rule.
Conservatives took to Twitter to ridicule the story.
“This is next level stupid: People calling Chris Pratt a white supremacist for wearing a shirt with the Gadsden flag on it,” conservative commentator Steven Crowder wrote. “@YahooNews should be ashamed for even running this.”
This is next level stupid: People calling Chris Pratt a white supremacist for wearing a shirt with the Gadsden flag on it.@YahooNews should be ashamed for even running this. pic.twitter.com/rq8Rt1xPuq
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) July 17, 2019
“This is pure idiocy. Not every symbol of the early republic is a white supremacist symbol, unless you are a moron,” conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said.
This is pure idiocy. Not every symbol of the early republic is a white supremacist symbol, unless you are a moron. https://t.co/zWT7GZK602
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 17, 2019
“Hi, please sod off with this disingenuous hooey. HOOEY I SAY,” Washington Post contributor Sonny Bunch said.
Hi, please sod off with this disingenuous hooey. HOOEY I SAY. https://t.co/EyxYyoHLzd
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) July 17, 2019
