Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky have found themselves in hot water after sharing a prank they pulled on their son’s birthday.
Fans took issue with the way Pataky shoved one of their son’s faces into the birthday cake, branding it “violent” and “ridiculous.”
In the Instagram snap, Pataky can be seen holding her son’s head down in chocolate cake, while the “Thor” actor and their two other children laugh.
“Why people smash their kid’s face in the cake is above my understanding but whatever,” one critic wrote in the comment section.
“Why do people think this is funny?” another wrote, before a third added, “It’s so violent.”
“In my country [this is] done, but it’s very poorly [looked upon] because several accidents have already happened,” a fourth chimed in.
While Hemsworth and Pataky have yet to respond to the criticism, other fans have jumped to their defense.
“Violent? It’s a bit of play,” wrote one fan, before another added, “Just a bit of basic humor….. they look like they are having a good time together.”
“Those kids are gonna grow up able to take a joke not be some little fairy who thinks having their head dipped in frosting is violent,” a third added.
Hemsworth shared the playful moment with his 56 million Instagram followers, writing, “Happy 9th birthday to my two little men! Only one way to eat cake in this house and that’s to have mum slam your head into it face first!!”
“‘Hey mom I don’t like chocolate cake I prefer vanilla,’” he went on. “‘Oh really son, what about now?’”
Hemsworth and Pataky are parents to daughter India, 10, and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, 9.
The couple, who wed back in 2010, threw an at-home celebration for their twin sons’ 9th birthday.
It comes as Hemsworth announced he was taking a break from acting after discovering his genetic predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease while filming “Limitless.”
Speaking to Vanity Fair in November, the actor opened up about the “intensity [of] navigating” his test results.
“Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death,” he explained. “Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality.”
Because the Aussie’s DNA has two copies of the gene APOE4, he is “eight to 10 times more likely” to battle the progressive disease.