Mark Wahlberg's allegedly racist past resurfaces as Catholic app sparks controversy online

Mark Wahlberg (Image via Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Around late June, a few social media advertisements showcased Mark Wahlberg promoting a Catholic app named Hallow. These advertisements from Hallow featured a picture of Wahlberg with his phone, presumably using the application.

One of the advertisement’s screenshots featured a picture with a caption:

“Join Mark Wahlberg in prayer only on Hallow, the #1 Catholic app.”

According to their Instagram, Wahlberg’s advertisements have been on social media since April. The application had also partnered with the actor’s film Father Stu (2022). However, following the recent advertisements, numerous Twitter users pointed out the racism allegations in the past against the Transformers star.

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Racist allegations associated with Mark Wahlberg resurface amid Hallow app endorsement

Numerous social media users expressed their surprise over the Hallow app featuring Wahlberg. A few tweets also called out Wahlberg for his allegedly racist behavior in the past.

These tweets highlighted the multiple charges against the actor for racially motivated attacks during his teenage years.

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According to The Independent, in 1986, Wahlberg (15 years old at the time) and three of his associates chased three black children. As per the report, they reportedly pelted stones at them and hurled racial slurs.

These alleged attacks caused Wahlberg to be subjected to a civil rights injunction. However, the charges were reportedly settled within a month.

Two years later, at the age of 17, the actor allegedly attacked two Vietnamese men while under the influence of drugs. Wahlberg reportedly hit one of them with a wooden stick and punched the other one in the eye. The actor is also accused of using racial slurs against them. He reportedly told them: “Vietnam f***ing s***.”

For the aforementioned incidents in 1988, Mark Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder and was sentenced to two years in prison. However, he ended up serving only a 45-day sentence.

Later, in 2020, Wahlberg told The Guardian:

“I took it upon myself to own up to my mistakes and go against the grain and not be a part of the gang anymore – to say that I was going to go and do my own thing. Which made it ten times more difficult to walk from my home to the train station, to go to school, to go to work.”

However, this recent association with the Hallow app has somehow led to these instances resurfacing on the web.

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What do the Mark Wahlberg Hallow app advertisements say?

In one of the video promotions by Wahlberg for the Hallow Catholic app, the actor reportedly urges the viewers to stay “prayed up.” According to the subtitle, the actor says:

“Let’s do the Rosary together and stay prayed up.”

According to the app’s Instagram post from April 13, Mark Wahlberg has three prayers available in the app - The Holy Spirit Prayer, The Rosary, and The Anima Christi. Furthermore, the app also features exclusive prayers from the actor’s 2022 movie, Father Stu.

The 51-year-old Boston native also liked multiple posts from the application’s official Instagram page that tagged his account.

Mark Wahlberg also shared a soundless video ad of the Hallow app on his social media profiles back in March. The ad mentioned the period of the Catholic observation, Lent, and a social challenge from Hallow called “Pray40.”

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Netizens react to Mark Wahlberg’s association with Catholic app Hallow and its advertisements

A legion of netizens mocked the ad for featuring the Boston-native actor. Some even joked about how they downloaded the app after Wahlberg’s endorsement.