The Black Panther star Letitia Wright made headlines today when he posted an anti-vaccination video on Twitter.
Actress faced a swift and violent backlash from supporters, leading to calls for a rewrite of her role as Shuri in the Marvel superhero movie.
After the news of the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in the UK, the 27-year-old British actress posted a YouTube video in which a moderator named Tomi Arayomi said: “I don’t understand vaccines medically, but I’ve always been a little skeptical about them”.
The Black Mirror star has since defended her position in replies to Twitter users.
Given Wright’s posting of anti-vax ideas, here are a number of celebrities who have also shown skepticism about vaccines in the past.
However, not all of them are formally identified as “Anti-Vax” – the list highlights those who have decided not to vaccinate their children or who have expressed or supported views that are critical or skeptical about vaccination.
Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy has spent more than a decade expressing her belief that vaccines caused her son’s autism and became the de facto face of the anti-Vax movement.
McCarthy has published a number of books on the subject and is president of the non-profit organization Generation Rescue, widely regarded as an anti-Vax group.
The belief that there is a link between autism and the measles vaccine began with the discredited British doctor Andrew Wakefield, whose study was withdrawn.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey has publicly criticized vaccinations. He also dated McCarthy from 2005 to 2010.
In 2009 he wrote in the Huffington Post: “In this growing crisis, we cannot afford to blindly trump the agenda of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or the vaccine manufacturers. Now more than ever, we must resist the urge to close this book before it is written”.
In 2015, actor Dumb and Dumber twittered: “I am not against vaccines. I am anti-thimerosal, anti-mercury. They removed some of the mercury laden thimerosal from vaccines. NOT ALL!”
I’m not anti-vaccine. I’m anti-thimerosal, anti-mercury. They have removed some of the mercury-containing thimerosal from vaccines. NOT ALL!
– Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) July 1, 2015
Jessica Biel
Last year, Jessica Biel spoke out publicly against California State Law 276, which aims to restrict medical exemptions from vaccinations.
Prominent anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that he had met with actress The Sinner at the California State Assembly to lobby against the law.
In response to the uproar that followed, Biel wrote to Instagram to clarify their position: “I am not against vaccinations-I support children who are vaccinated, and I also support families who have the right to make informed medical decisions for their children alongside their doctors.
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A common post of Jessica Biel (@jessicabiel)
Cat From D
The famous tattoo artist Kat Von D made some critical remarks about vaccines after she had her first child.
“If you don’t know what it’s like to have people around you who think you’re ridiculous, try to be openly vegan,” she wrote in 2018 in a now out-of-print Instagram post. “Try to be an openly vegan pregnant vegan on Instagram and have a natural, drug-free home birth in water with a midwife and doula, with the intention of raising a vegan child without vaccinations. (about USA Today.)
She later published a YouTube video in which she said she was “not anti-vax.
“I am not anti-vaxx,” she said, “What I am is a mother who becomes a mother for the first time. I am one of those mothers who read everything. Everything that goes on in my baby or on my baby I explore like a complete and total nerd. After I did some research and read the ingredients, I was naturally a bit hesitant.
Kristin Cavallari
The Hills Star told Fox News in 2014: “Listen, to each his own,” she said, “I understand both sides of this. I have read too many books on autism, and there are some frightening statistics out there. It’s our personal choice.”
Alicia Silverstone
The unsuspecting actress was very skeptical about vaccinations in her book “The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning”, published in 2014.
She wrote: “There is still no conclusive study of the negative effects of such a rigorous, equal-sized, all-inclusive schedule”.
In another passage she said: “There is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have received emergency calls from parents claiming that their child was ‘never the same again’ after vaccination. And I personally have friends whose babies have been drastically affected in this way”.
Rob Schneider
The hot-chick actor has publicly spoken about his belief in the idea that vaccines are associated with autism.
In 2012, he told a California news station: “Doctors won’t tell you both sides of the problem… They are told it is perfectly safe by the pharmaceutical industry, which makes billions of dollars.
He added: “The effectiveness of these injections has not been proven,” he continued later. “And the toxicity of these things – we are seeing more and more side effects. We have more and more autism.” (over Huffington Post.)
Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton also publicly stated that she believes vaccines are related to autism.
The son of “Un-break My Heart” singer Diezel has autism.
In her 2014 memoirs, she wrote: “Perhaps it is just a coincidence that after my son’s first MMR vaccine, I began to notice changes in him.
Robert DeNiro
In 2017, Robert De Niro forcibly teamed up with RFK Jr. to hold a press conference on vaccine safety.
The event highlighted general, untrustworthy claims, such as the idea that vaccines cause autism and contain a large source of mercury.
The veteran actor previously promoted the anti-vaccine film Vaxxed.
Lisa Bonet
Back in 1990, Lisa Bonet told The Donahue Show that vaccines could potentially “introduce foreign microorganisms into our children’s blood” and linked vaccines to “cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, sudden infant death.
