Letitia Wright responds to criticism after sharing anti-vaccination video
Letitia Wright is speaking out after facing criticism for posting an anti-vaccination video on social media.
On Thursday, the Black Panther actress, 27, shared a link to the YouTube video called “COVID-19 vaccine: Should we take it?” on Twitter alongside a praying hands emoji. The video, from a web show called On The Table, saw host Tomi Arayomi, who’s a self-described prophet and not a medical professional, share his opinions about vaccines, including saying, “I don’t understand vaccines medically, but I’ve always been a little bit of a skeptic of them.”
Wright — who later deleted the video — instantly faced criticism, including being told it was a “frustratingly irresponsible use of [her] platform.” Fellow Marvel Comic Universe star Don Cheadle called the video “hot garbage,” but said he wasn’t going to “throw [Wright] away over it.”
Early Friday, Wright clarified why she shared it, saying it “was not to hurt anyone.” She said her “only intention” was that it “raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.”
After the Guyanese-British actress initially posted it, she went back and forth with her critics, including British actor Alex Sawyer, who was the one to call her out for misusing her platform.
She also replied to someone who said she had a “history” of sharing anti-vaccine posts.
The exchanges led to her tweeting. “If you don’t conform to popular opinions but ask questions and think for yourself.... you get [canceled]” with a crying laughing emoji.
She then replied to someone who agreed with her but said that people would “make an example” out of her.
Though she seemingly agreed with one person who told her that as someone “playing one of the smartest (if not THE smartest) characters” in the Marvel Comic Universe as Shuri, “please take some more science classes. It will help you understand vaccines AND your character better.”
Cheadle, also in the Marvel Universe playing War Machine, also weighed in on Wright posting the video, noting that he “just scrolled through” what he described as “hot garbage.” He said everything Arayomi said “sounded crazy and fkkkd up.” And while he “would never defend anyone posting this,” he wasn’t about to “throw her away over it.” He said any further thoughts he has on the topic will be expressed “off Twitter.”
In Arayomi’s video, he also suggested that children who take the vaccine could potentially have “extra limbs grow” and have “11 fingers and 12 toes,” saying, “We have seen vaccines do damage before.”
Arayomi — who describes himself as a “well recognized Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV, an online mission that seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence” — has since spoken out about Wright facing criticism, calling it bullying and questioned why people have to believe science.
Wright isn’t the first celebrity to publicly express concern over COVID-19 vaccines, which have been tested with promising signs of effectiveness and are rolling out at the end of December in the U.S. Joy Behar said on The View in September that she would only take the vaccine after first daughter Ivanka Trump. Trump then vowed to appear on the show to get hers, hitting back that she trusts “the FDA and so should all Americans.” (No word on whether that will still happen.)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), spoke about dealing with anti-vaxxers recently, both during the pandemic and before. “There's a hardcore group that no matter what you do, you're not going to change their mind, but there's also a group that are against vaccines because they've absorbed misinformation,” he said.
On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama said he will “absolutely” take the coronavirus vaccine if top health officials, like Fauci, deemed it safe. He said, “People like Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I’ve worked with, I trust completely. So if Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting COVID, absolutely I’m going to take it.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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