Chris Pratt shows off swollen insect sting after thinking he could ‘control bees’

‘F*** that bee lady,’ the actor lamented

Chris Pratt received a nasty bee sting on his eye after thinking he could “control bees”.

The actor, 43, claimed he was lured into a false sense of security after watching a beekeeper handle the insects on TikTok.

In an Instagram video, Pratt showed fans his swollen eyelid and said: “So I’ve been following this bee lady on Instagram, she’s so cool and brave.

“She goes in front of these hives of bees and says, ‘They’re very calm today. I’m going to remove the bee, I’m going to use my bare hands to sift through the bees and look for the queen.’”

The Guardians of the Galaxy star went on to explain that he stumbled across a beehive and thought the bees looked “calm”. Feeling inspired by the videos he had been watching, Pratt approached it.

“And I just stared at these bees and then one of them came out and stung me in the eyeball. So, anyways, f*** that bee lady,” he said.

Pratt tagged Erika Thompson, the “bee lady” in question, in the caption, telling her that she “inspires” him.

Thompson runs a social media page called Texas Beeworks, where she shares videos of her handling bees. Her aim is to save bees across Texas and share her love of bees “with the world”.

The insect expert replied in the comments and referred to his new role as Mario in his upcoming project The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The beekeeper asked Pratt to “leave saving the bees” to her so that he can “focus on saving the Princess, Mario”.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens in theatres on 7 April. Anya Taylor-Joy will play the voice of Princess Peach, while Jack Black takes on the role of Bowser.

Pratt also has Guardians of the Galaxy 3 coming out next year, on 5 May. Fans will get to see his character, Peter Quill, return to screens in a standalone Guardians movie for the first time in five years.