‘keep being your wonderful self’

Maria Shriver is standing up in support of her son-in-law, Chris Pratt. (Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Maria Shriver is giving son-in-law Chris Pratt some support amid social media backlash.

Shriver — who is mother to Pratt’s wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger — told the actor ignore those criticizing his Instagram post praising Schwarzenegger for giving him a “gorgeous healthy daughter.” Critics saw the comment as a dig at Pratt’s ex-wife, Anna Faris, with whom he shares 9-year-old son Jack, who was born prematurely and has had some health complications.

In a comment posted to Pratt’s Instagram post over the weekend, Shriver wrote, “I love you Chris, keep being your wonderful self, rise above the noise. Your kids love you, your family loves you and your wife loves you. What a beautiful life, I’m proud of you xo.”

Shriver also said she wanted to remind Pratt “what a good man you are. What a great father you are to Jack and Lyla, what a great husband you are to Katherine and what a great son-in-law you are to me and what a great sense of humor you have!!”

Pratt has said that the negative reactions to his tribute to Schwarzenegger upset him, Yahoo Entertainment previously reported. 

“I went to bed last night really kind of upset and depressed,” Pratt said Friday in his Instagram Story, “and I woke up feeling crappy and I didn’t want to work out.”

Chris Pratt speaks out on Instagram. (Instagram/Chris Pratt)

“I knew that if I put on my Christian music playlist, and I got out of the woods and ran that I’d feel better, but I just didn’t want to,” he continued. “And I did it anyways and, gosh, was I right. It felt amazing. I got out of the woods, got my blood pumping. That moment… it really captured me and so I just want to say, all glory to God.”

Pratt and Faris split in August 2017. Almost two years later, he married Schwarzenegger, and the couple welcomed their daughter in August 2020.

In celebration of Shriver’s birthday on Saturday, Schwarzenegger posted a series of touching photos of herself and her mother. Some were throwback photos from her childhood, while others showed Shriver thriving as a grandmother to Lyla.

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