Spencer Pratt Criticizes ‘Mayday’ Star Ryan Reynolds for His Take on the 1980s

Nostalgia has become a cherished aspect of modern pop culture, with the 1980s often receiving a particularly romanticized view. This week, however, Hollywood superstar Ryan Reynolds broke from the norm by openly criticizing the decade instead of celebrating it.

While promoting his new film ‘Mayday’ at its New York premiere, Reynolds discussed the Cold War-era narrative about an American pilot who crashes in the Soviet Union in 1987 and is helped by a former KGB agent fascinated by American culture. Despite the film’s lighthearted, buddy-comedy vibe and nostalgic presentation, Reynolds took the opportunity to challenge the overly positive perceptions of the 1980s.

“The 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a fucking mess and people forget that. It was a tremendous strife,” Reynolds told Variety, arguing that the nostalgia surrounding the decade glosses over the real trauma of a period marked by significant sociopolitical tension.

His comments quickly drew backlash from television personality Spencer Pratt, who has been advocating for the return of film and television production jobs to the U.S. Pratt framed his criticism around Hollywood’s relationship with American audiences rather than merely defending the decade itself.

“Here I am trying to bring back American film jobs, and then these tools keep saying stupid crap like this and making every normal American hate them. Hollywood is seriously its own worst enemy. Just stick to the Cricket wireless ads, dude,” Pratt posted on X, mistakenly referencing Reynolds’ long-time association with Mint Mobile.

Pratt continued his critique in a follow-up post, questioning Reynolds’ comparisons between 1980s film heroes and today’s morally complex protagonists. “In 80’s movies, bad guys were villains. Today, the bad guys are the heroes. Hollywood now bends over backwards to redeem wickedness and mental illness,” he wrote, expanding his criticism to current Hollywood storytelling trends.

Pratt wasn’t alone in his response. Conservative commentator Dan Bongino defended the decade by referencing cultural milestones like the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey victory, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and economic growth during the Reagan administration. Bongino specifically challenged Reynolds’ characterization of the era as traumatic, questioning his grasp of American history given that Reynolds grew up in Canada.

Lisa Cusack, president of the Don’t L.A. My Burbank political action committee, also criticized Reynolds, stating that he overlooked significant economic and cultural achievements of the decade, including declining poverty rates and GDP growth. She pointed out the irony of criticizing an era that produced beloved films like ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Indiana Jones.’

Much of the backlash focused less on the validity of Reynolds’ broader argument and more on the contradiction between his comments and the film he was promoting. ‘Mayday’ heavily leans into 1980s nostalgia as part of its marketing, making Reynolds’ criticism feel particularly out of place to some critics.

Film critic Christian Toto remarked that Reynolds’ comments were “stunning,” especially since ‘Mayday’ serves as a nostalgic homage to the very decade he criticized in interviews. This disconnect between the film’s promotion and Reynolds’ public statements has become a central theme in the criticism from Pratt and others.

With ‘Mayday’ set for release this Friday, Reynolds’ remarks about the 1980s have added an unexpected layer of controversy to what was otherwise a straightforward promotional campaign.

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