‘I never went to Hillsong’

Actor Chris Pratt recently denied allegations that he attended Hillsong megachurch, the scandal-ridden institution notorious for alleged anti-LGBTQ views and gay conversion therapy among other high-profile controversies.

Pratt, 43, denied the allegations during an interview with Men’s Health for its July-August cover story, saying that he has never been to the church nor does he know anyone from the congregation, which once attracted the likes of Justin Bieber.

“I never went to Hillsong,” said the “Jurassic World Dominion” star, who has been the subject of several controversies in the past.

“I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church.”

In 2019, “Umbrella Academy” star Elliot Page was one of the first people to slam Pratt over his supposed ties to Hillsong after the “Avengers” star appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to talk about his faith.

“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,” tweeted Page, who came out as a trans man in 2020. “Being anti-LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all.”

Pratt later responded on Instagram saying that the allegations were not true.

“It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone,” Pratt said.

The actor told Men’s Health that attacks on his faith started after an acceptance speech at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards, where he said: “God is real. God loves you, God wants the best for you. Believe that; I do.”

The “Parks and Recreation” alum admitted that maybe the language was too much for some.

“Maybe it was hubris for me to stand up on the stage and say the things that I said,” he told the magazine. “I’m not sure I touched anybody.”

Unlike Hillsong — whose pastor Brian Houston recently resigned amid many allegations of wrongdoing, all of which the church has denied multiple times — Pratt said that he actually attends Zoe Church in Los Angeles.

“Religion has been oppressive as f – – k for a long time … I think there’s a distinction between being religious … and using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred. Whatever it is,” Pratt told Men’s Health.

“The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed onto the back of religion and come along for the ride.”

Pratt also discussed being slammed over a November post about his “healthy” daughter while having a son with disabilities.

“I said something like, ‘Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me.’ And then I gave her some shit in the thing and said, ‘But I love you. I’m so thankful for my wife — she gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter.’ And then a bunch of articles came out and said, ‘That’s so cringeworthy. I can’t believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature. That’s such a dig at his ex-wife,’ ” he said.

“That is f – – ked up. My son’s gonna read that one day. He’s 9. And it’s etched in digital stone. It really f – – king bothered me, dude. I cried about it. I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are — to the people close to me — a real burden.”