Everyone likes Chris Pratt. He seems to be one of those genuine goof-balls that people are often at ease with. And just like any good old goof-ball like most of the characters he plays (think Andy Dwyer or to an extent Star-lord), it is expected that he would make a very public mistake from time to time.

Recently, he got into hot water for posting an Instagram video wherein he urges his followers to not rely on the subtitles and instead turn up the volume. He was roundly criticized for being insensitive toward deaf people and people with partial hearing who often depend on subtitles. So, the Guardians of the Galaxy star quickly responded with a sweet apology using Instagram to air his sentiment.

To hone the point, he posted a video of himself apologizing using sign language! He also wrote a lengthy caption explaining why the gaffe happened.

 

Instagram does this thing where it mutes all the videos it shows and forces you to turn on the volume in order to hear them. (maybe because most people are watching those videos at work when they should be working and don’t want to get caught. I know that’s when I do it. ????) So when I made a video recently with subtitles, and requested that people turn up the volume and not just “read the subtitles” it was so people wouldn’t scroll past the video on mute, thus watching and digesting the information in the video. HOWEVER, I realize now doing so 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. 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. And on that note. Why doesn’t Instagram have some kind of technology to automatically add subtitles to its videos? Or at least the option. I did a little exploring and it seems lacking in that area. Shouldn’t there be an option for closed captioning or something? 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. #CCinstaNow

A post shared by chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) on May 4, 2017 at 5:59am PDT

“Instagram does this thing where it mutes all the videos it shows and forces you to turn on the volume in order to hear them.” He continued, “So when I made a video recently with subtitles, and requested that people turn up the volume and not just “read the subtitles” it was so people wouldn’t scroll past the video on mute, thus watching and digesting the information in the video. “

Which is understandable and insensitive, something which he caught on.

“HOWEVER, I realize now doing so was incredibly insensitive to the many folks out there who depend on subtitles. So, truly from the bottom of my heart I apologize. Thanks for pointing this out to me. In the future I’ll try to be a little less ignorant about it.”

He also made it clear that this was not a PR move on his part.

“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.” he pointed out.

Don’t worry Chris, we believe you.

He also took things a step further, when he admonished Instagram for its lack of closed captioning, and he urged the social media giant to “Get on it”.

I don’t know about you, but this gesture actually makes me a bigger fan. Not everyone, especially people in his postion, would often offer a quick and sincere apology wherein he acknowledges his mistake.

We need more of that with our public figures.

(photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia commons)