This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by senior entertainment reporter Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox every week, sign up for it here.
It seems to be so long ago that it is only a flickering, fading memory or perhaps even a shared delusion – knowledge that has only grown in drama over time. But in truth, it’s only a year and a half since Gal Gadot gathered a gathering of celebrities to sing “Imagine”, a group of celebrities so random that it was as if their names were grabbed by floating Rolodex cards waving in the sky after an explosion in a casting director’s office.
How far have we come from when these stars meandered off the orbit to point out, well, probably something during the start of the pandemic – what exactly has not yet revealed itself – and is expected in kind to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A harmless, well-meaning gesture, it was instantly pillaged. Here we spot it again! But it is telling.
While it is not necessarily these celebrities specifically, we are at a time when people, especially all the famous ones, can do something tangible and demonstrative to help others, save lives and bring an end to the pandemic. And of course, they can not bother to do that.
There is a particular feeling of hurt joy right now as the glove falls on more and more celebrities who are revealed in whether or not necessarily being anti-wax have refused to receive a vaccine against coronavirus.
To be sure, I do not know, some children do not die in the hunt to make another season of a TV spinoff of The Mighty Ducks, there are strict vaccine protocols in place on many – if not most – television and film sets, which stipulate that actors appearing on camera must be vaccinated in order to work. This reflects the attitude of many companies and industries around the country as President Biden works to push vaccine mandates through for companies in the private sector.
This means that actors who have not been vaccinated have been forced to leave projects, or send them out in costly turmoil. Because these are public figures who are often considered examples of society, each of these occasions has made headlines.
It’s fascinating! It’s furious! It’s in a dark way deliciously gossipy! Who are the mashed potato brains that will not be vaccinated? Give me some popcorn and let me see them being dragged across the coals. This season’s pop culture event.
First there was Eric Clapton of it all.
So in recent weeks, we learned that Emilio Estevez left the former The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers series about Disney + due to contract disputes – and non-compliance with the vaccine mandate. General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher was released from the soap opera he was a big part of for over two decades, after posting an anti-trans meme – and not being vaccinated. Ice Cube missed out on a $ 9 million paycheck for a movie he was to star in with Jack Black due to a vaccine claim, which raised so many questions, such as: They had to pay Ice Cube how much money???!!!
NFL star Aaron Rodgers was caught lying about his vaccination status after contracting COVID-19, making it a martyr tour with everyone Tomfoolery Idolbiggest hits. (Leading the dystopian bop, “I Did My Own Research.”) Making things even juicier is the assumption that his clay-eating wife Shaliene Woodley was first accused of putting anti-scientific ideas in his head, but it turns out she’s currently filming a TV show with a vaccine mandate for actors on camera. The gossip is well!
Of course in Hollywood, where woo-woo organic natural wellness crystal voodoo is its own pandemic, there will be a host of people with the privilege of living such a lifestyle that evokes the same privilege of refusing to be vaccinated. Who are they? I can not wait to find out more. (I’ve heard rumors about who some are. I’ll never tell. Until you take me to the corner of a bar after a few drinks, of course.)
Like fans turned around “who didn’t show up for the vaccine-required Met Gala?” into a parlor game to guess who might be unvaxxed, pay attention to what typically booked and blessed artists suddenly stand with a blank dance card. According to The Hollywood Reporter, many studies are now considering or trying only vaccinated stars for roles.
And it’s not just stupidity. There are practical, costly consequences of all this that can mess with the crew members’ livelihoods. After refusing to be waxed, Miles Teller’s COVID-19 diagnosis brought the recording of the upcoming series on the production of The Godfather stands still and sets fire to millions of dollars. Then there is the matter Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Letitia Wright.
After suffering an unidentified injury to the set, Wright flew to London to recover. But the actress, who is allegedly not vaccinated and is not a U.S. citizen, cannot fly back to the country to complete the filming, which has shot pretty much every scene that does not require her presence. The Biden administration’s new policy is that international travelers must provide proof of vaccination before boarding an aircraft.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wright plays the most ingenious scientist in the world, and that’s the situation she’s put herself in? Flop forever.
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