Yahoo had to edit an article attacking Chris Pratt over a photo of him wearing a Gadsden flag T-shirt that the agency initially labeled “white supremacist.”
In the original piece the headline about the 40-year-old actor read as following, “Chris Pratt Criticized for White Supremacist T-Shirt.” A short time later, the headline was corrected to read, “Chris Pratt Criticized For T-Shirt Choice,” according to Fox News in a piece published Wednesday. (RELATED:Associated Press Appears To Stealth Edit Article About Beto Rally)
Cast members (L-R) Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Chris Pratt…as they attend a premiere of the film “Guardians of the galaxy, Vol. 2” in London, Britain, April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
The U.K. Yahoo Movie article described the Gadsden flag as the following:
“Although it is one of the symbols and flags used by the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, Metallica, as well as some libertarian groups, over the years the flag has been adopted by Far Right political groups like the Tea Party, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment,” the piece read.
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) July 15, 2019
“It has therefore become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals and, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US, it also is ‘sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts,” it added. (RELATED: Beto O’Rourle Has First Brush With The Law On 2020 Campaign Trail)
The altered part now reads:
“Although the symbol has a non-racial history – it is has been used by the U.S. men’s soccer team and Metallica – over the years it has also been adopted by political groups like the Tea Party and some Libertarian groups, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment
It has therefore also become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals. It’s why some people are critical of Pratt wearing a T-shirt featuring the Gadsden flag iconography.”
Many journalists, including Ben Shapiro called the labeling “pure idiocy.”
“This is pure idiocy. Not every symbol of the early republic is a white supremacist symbol, unless you are a moron,” the Conservative commentator tweeted to his millions of followers.
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
No, rage mob, you cannot have @prattprattpratt and his Gadsden flag shirt.
It’s not racist.
The snake was cut into 13 pieces to mirror 13 colonies. Apart, those pieces were powerless — together, they were a force to be reckoned with.https://t.co/v9wjBHivif
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) July 17, 2019
Shame on @Yahoo for this trash. A handful of dumb twitter comments isn’t a news story you click-baiting parasites. There nothing white supremacist about that T-shirt.
It’s like everyone wants to be stupid and make everything worse. https://t.co/TVNeLUGUAc— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) July 17, 2019
An update was later added to the piece.
Update: This article was updated on 17 July with the initial headline, ‘Chris Pratt criticised for ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt’’being amended to ‘Chris Pratt criticised for T-shirt choice.’ References to White Supremacism in this article have been removed.