The promotional tour for the 2016 sci-fi film Passengers became less about the intergalactic romance and more about the escalating, highly-publicized prank war between its two stars, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence (JLaw). Pratt, operating under the guise of friendly banter, spent weeks intentionally excluding his co-star from his social media posts, a running joke that Lawrence eventually decided to end with a definitive and hilariously visible act of retaliation.
The Social Media Snub: The “Face-Cutting” Prank
During the global press tour for Passengers, Chris Pratt embarked on a sustained social media prank where he repeatedly posted selfies with JLaw, but always with her face intentionally cut out, cropped, or obscured.
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The Tactic: Pratt’s Instagram feed was filled with photos from talk shows, interviews, and events, often captioned with a seemingly sincere greeting or photo announcement—but with only half of Lawrence’s face visible, or just the back of her head.
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The Intent: While the prank was lighthearted and designed to generate buzz for the movie, it was also a sly running joke about Lawrence’s immense fame, implying that she was being sidelined.
Lawrence, who had to endure weeks of this gag, finally got her chance for a brutal, public revenge during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in December 2016.
The Revenge: Spray Paint and a New Last Name
After discussing Pratt’s cropping antics with Jimmy Kimmel, Lawrence, feigning indignation, stormed out of the studio, declaring, “F* it, I’m going to do something about it.”**
The ultimate revenge was immediate, physical, and public. With the help of Kimmel and his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, Lawrence found the large promotional tour bus parked outside the Hollywood Masonic Temple, which featured an enormous advertisement for Passengers with a giant picture of Pratt’s face.
Lawrence and Kimmel then proceeded to vandalize the advertisement with spray paint in a series of playful and devastating edits:
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The Defacement: Lawrence covered Pratt’s face with black spray paint, adding a mustache and a unibrow, and giving him “Terminator red eyes.”
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The Insult: Kimmel pitched in by spray-painting over the film’s title, scoring out the ‘P’ and the ‘T’ to leave only the word “ASS,” then drawing an arrow pointing to Pratt’s defaced face.
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The Name Change: In the most direct insult, Lawrence changed Pratt’s last name on the poster from “Pratt” to “Rat.”
This act of hilarious, on-air “vandalism” was the perfect retort, completely wiping Pratt’s pristine image off the bus with a message that resonated with fans who had been following the saga.
Related Notable Events: The War of Words
The exchange of lighthearted insults became a central feature of the promotion for Passengers. The duo also participated in BBC Radio 1’s “Playground Insults” segment, where they took turns delivering increasingly savage insults. Lawrence’s lines, such as asking Pratt, “Where do you keep your Oscar?” (Pratt has none), were considered particularly sharp and highlighted their playful competitive edge.
Jennifer Lawrence’s decisive, spray-paint-fueled retaliation on the promotional bus was the iconic conclusion to the Passengers press tour—a perfect, messy demonstration that in a celebrity feud, the most successful revenge is often the one that’s broadcast on live television.