Letitia Wright Responds to Backlash Over Anti-Vaccine Video

Letitia Wright (Credit: Shutterstock)

Letitia Wright says she didn’t mean to “hurt” anyone, when she shared a video spreading unsubstantiated claims about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Black Panther actress tweeted the video Thursday from YouTube channel “On the Table,” along with a praying hands emoji. The video showed host Tomi Arayomi criticizing vaccines based on unsubstantiated claims. Wright’s tweet has since been deleted.

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In the hour-long video (which has been removed from YouTube for “violating terms of service”), Arayomi questioned the safety of the vaccine and said he doesn’t know if he’s going to get it.

“I am just a big skeptic of needles and vaccinations in general, I think the body should be able to produce the right antibodies to fight things, Arayomi said, per Yahoo.

He went on to say, “We can just get that (the vaccine) out there and hope it doesn’t make extra limbs grow, hope to God you don’t develop children that have 11 fingers and 12 toes, we are hoping for the best. We have seen vaccines do damage before.”

The description on the video read: “Tonight I’m talking about Luciferase, the ingredient allegedly being added to the Covid vaccine to detect those who have not taken it. Luciferase, named by its founder after Lucifer???”

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Many Twitter users criticized Wright for sharing the video, including fellow Marvel actor Don Cheadle.

“Jesus… just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up,” the Iron Man star tweeted. “I would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won’t throw her away over it. the rest i’ll take off twitter. had no idea.”

https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/1334736415884656641

Guyanese-British actress Wright stood by her decision to post the video and complained about cancel culture.

“If you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself….you get cancelled,” she added on Twitter.

Author and essayist Roxane Gay, who wrote the spinoff comic book “Black Panther: World of Wakanda,” responded by calling Wright’s initial post “asinine.”

“Thinking for yourself doesn’t mean you’re right. And you aren’t cancelled. But damn. Promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and shrouding it in intellectual curiosity is asinine. And dangerous,” Gay tweeted.

Another Twitter user told Wright to “do better.”

“You’re not asking any questions, rather you’re using your huge platform to spread misinformation & then getting upset at people pushing back on that. Do better,” Twitter user @aspiringdreamer wrote.

On Friday, the actress issued a statement on Twitter saying she didn’t intend to “hurt” anyone, but has concerns about the vaccine.

“My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else,” she wrote.

https://twitter.com/letitiawright/status/1334838855346909184?s=20