Hollywood has never needed much encouragement to turn a movie promotion into a  public argument. This time around, Ryan Reynolds has found himself at the center of one after discussing the decade that provides the backdrop for his latest film, Mayday. What began as a reflection on nostalgia quickly moved beyond the usual red-carpet chatter, drawing in a less-than-enthused response from reality TV personality Spencer Pratt.  

Reynolds’ comments about the 1980s have now turned into a broader complaint about Hollywood, American culture and the lopsided, almost skewed relationship the entertainment industry has with its audience. 

Spencer Pratt took to X to publicly criticized Ryan Reynolds after the actor discussed 1980s nostalgia while promoting Mayday, his new action comedy set during the Cold War. While the actor did his best to assert the great divide caused by the overtly nostalgic "Top Gun and c******" laden narratives of the era, Pratt did not seem too happy with Reynolds' attempt. 

“Here I am trying to bring back American film jobs, and then these tools keep saying stupid c*** like this and making every normal American hate them," he wrote.

"Hollywood is seriously its own worst enemy. Just stick to the Cricket wireless ads, dude,” Pratt ended the post with, although he did get Reynolds' phone plan associations incorrect. 

The larger point of Pratt's X post, however, was unmistakable. He framed Reynolds’ remarks as another example of Hollywood figures alienating ordinary Americans, particularly while the industry continues wrestling with the question of how to reconnect with domestic audiences. The timing, which coincides with Mayday, in fact, gives the exchange an additional layer.

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Mayday is itself steeped in the culture and anxieties of the 1980s, meaning Ryan Reynolds was discussing the same period that his new film recreates for its audience.

Speaking to Variety at the Mayday premiere, Ryan Reynolds pushed against the softer version of 1980s nostalgia that has become increasingly familiar through contemporary pop culture. He described the decade as “a brutal, brutal time,” calling it a “mess” marked by tremendous strife and sociopolitical tensions. He concluded that distance can make people remember an era more fondly by covering over its darker realities.

That perspective sits in an especially curious place beside Mayday. Reynolds plays US Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, who is stranded in Soviet territory in 1987 after a covert mission goes wrong. Despite the grave backdrop, the film leans into the period’s American pop-culture imagery with Kenneth Branagh's America-enthusiast ex-KGB agent, making Reynolds’ comments difficult to separate from its promotional context.

All of this ultimately leaves Mayday sitting between two competing versions of the 1980s: the glossy cultural memory Hollywood continues to mine, and the far messier history Reynolds says nostalgia tends to erase. With Pratt now adding his voice to the conversation, the film’s promotional campaign has acquired an unexpected subplot of its own: a debate over who gets to define the era it puts back on screen.

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Who do you side with on what the 1980s were like? Let us know in the comments.