Chris Pratt apologises in sign language after "ignorant" Instagram post

Publish Date: Friday, 5 May 2017, 8:36AM

Chris Pratt is apologising for offending hearing impaired individuals.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star shared an Instagram video of himself using sign language to say sorry, adding: "Truly from the bottom of my heart I apologise."

The 37-year-old actor shared the clip - along with a heartfelt note - after he previously posting an "incredibly insensitive" video with subtitles, the Daily Mail reports.

Chris began the lengthy note explaining that Instagram automatically plays videos on mute, unless a person physically taps the clip to turn the volume on.

The last video he uploaded for his 11.3 million followers had subtitles; for that now-deleted video in question, he had "requested that people turn up the volume not just 'read the subtitles'."

Chris addressed that particular subtitle comment, explaining that "it was so people wouldn't scroll past the video on mute, thus watching and digesting the information in the video."

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

The Jurassic World star said: "I realise now doing so was incredibly insensitive to the many folks out there who depend on subtitles."

Chris noted that 38 million people in America live with some sort of hearing impairment "so I want to apologise."

The Jurassic World star added that he has people in his life who are also hearing impaired.

He said: "The last think I would want to do is offend them or anybody who suffers from hearing loss or any other disability."

The Minnesota-born star wanted to clarify that he wanted to apologise, not because his publicist told him to.

He told his millions of followers: "I control my social media. Nobody else. And I'm 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."

Chris thanked his followers for pointing out his wrongdoing and said in the future, he will focus on being "a little less ignorant about it."

The movie star noted that he thinks Instagram should have technology to add subtitles automatically to videos posted.

The father of one pushed the subject further, saying that the social media company has profited from pictures and videos he's posted, therefore he believes it should "put closed captioning" on the app.

Chris pitched the idea to Instagram and closed it with a hashtag: "#CCinstaNow."

This article was first published on Daily Mail and is republished here with permission.

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