"every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up," tweeted Cheadle of the video. "i would never defend anybody posting this."
Letitia Wright found herself in hot water on Thursday after sharing a video to her Twitter feed expressing skepticism about vaccines in general and for COVID-19 in particular, including from fellow MCU star Don Cheadle.
"if you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled," tweeted Wright in response to the immediate outcry.
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View StoryWhen one follower suggested that she do some research because "all the questions you have have been answered," adding, "you're just too lazy to read a medical journal," Wright shot back, "Still have a right to worry how my body will react. It's not lazy. It's thinking for myself."
The "Black Panther" star doubled and tripled down her stance, responding to several fans in the comments. When challenged that "popular opinion" actually means scientific evidence, Wright countered by asking, "So you'll take something you haven't 100 percent looked into?"
Her bottom line is that she feels she has the right to ask questions about what is in the vaccine and whether or not it's good for her body. Here's just a few of her exchanges:
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View Storyif you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled 😂
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
still have a right to worry about how my body will react. It’s not lazy, it’s thinking for myself 🙏🏾
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
so, you’ll take something you haven’t 100% looked into?🙏🏾
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
no, if you watched it fully he’s just asking what’s in it and if it’s right for our bodies 🤷🏾♀️
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ so I’m not allowed to ask...gotcha x
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
I have...I’ve also seen their videos taken down & cancelled. Also doctors and physicians 😞
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
upset?
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
just using my own mind to think - which I’m free to do 🤦🏾♀️
who cried?
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
🤷🏾♀️ make an example out of me for asking if something is right for my body before taking it.
— Letitia Wright (@letitiawright) December 4, 2020 @letitiawright
interesting world we live in 😞
The MCU's War Machine, Don Cheadle, tried to wade into the fray playfully at first only to be hit hard once he was urged to actually sample the video Wright had shared.
Initially, he replied to her tweet about being "cancelled" playfully, trying to rhyme, "bye, letitia" with "bye, felicia." But this was before he really understood what was going on. Cheadle is very outspoken on social media and has been urging his followers to take Covid seriously.
The video, from the YouTube channel "On the Table," not only features host Tomi Arayomi making wildly unsubstantiated and bizarre claims about vaccines in general, but also features transphobic speech.
"Look at somebody is genetically born a male but you say that’s a girl… enough times, eventually you will force compliance by the composition of my speech to say something that I just technically, biologically don’t believe in," said Arayomi in the video.
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View StoryArayomi also said that he was a skeptic of vaccines because he thinks "the body should be able to produce the right antibodies to fight things," as noted by Yahoo!
He further asserted, "We can just get [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."
When urged to actually watch the video, Cheadle came back with a much more serious tone. "jesus... just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up," he 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."
During an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last season, Cheadle wore a t-shirt reading, "Protect Trans Kids," a subtle but powerful statement.
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View Storyi haven't seen it. i'll watch and pull her coat if it's off. i was jabbing at her for her tweet rhyming letitia with felicia. that was the joke walking from set to trailer. and if folk think i'm transphobic... 🙄 https://t.co/BZSu6JD7Ko
— Don "bruh, you lost" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) December 4, 2020 @DonCheadle
i'm not. if she went transphobe, fire away. but i'll personally take it to her if she said something crazy. not to twitter. that's how i do it with friends and how i hope they do it with me if i fkkk up. trying to find it now. https://t.co/hV7NGNjxff
— Don "bruh, you lost" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) December 4, 2020 @DonCheadle
jesus... just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up. 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://t.co/7uDlP1xwDL
— Don "bruh, you lost" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) December 4, 2020 @DonCheadle
It sounds like Cheadle is heading straight to the source with this one to have a candid conversation with Wright about her questions and the video she just shared as it touches on two things he's passionate about, transgender rights and taking the pandemic seriously.
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