An unsubstantiated claim that Jamie Foxx was hospitalized after a Covid vaccination is going viral on social media
- 10 months ago
A claim that Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx was hospitalized after he was seriously injured by a Covid vaccine has gone massively viral, having been viewed millions of times on social media. A representative for Foxx said the claim is untrue, but that hasn’t stopped the claim from being absorbed and amplified in an anti-vaccination echo chamber on YouTube and Twitter.
The unsubstantiated claim is part of a continued push among some far-right personalities to cast doubt on the safety of vaccines, even though studies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have affirmed that vaccines are safe and effective.
The claim about Foxx was first made by a gossip columnist on the online talk show “Ask Dr. Drew.”
A.J. Benza, a podcaster who formerly worked for the New York Daily News, told Dr. Drew Pinsky on his program on May 30 that Foxx was left “partially paralyzed and blind” after he received a Covid vaccine. Benza alleged that Foxx was forced to get a vaccine while he was working on a film. He claimed he had a source “in the room” with Foxx and that the performer developed a blood clot, which led to a stroke, after he got vaccinated. Pinsky didn’t challenge the claim.
Benza didn’t name the source. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foxx’s representatives said in an email that Benza’s claim is “completely inaccurate.” Although Foxx was hospitalized for an undisclosed illness in April, his daughter Corinne Foxx said in an Instagram Story post that he had been home for weeks and was well enough to play pickleball.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Benza’s disputed claim from running rampant on social media. Far-right commentators like Candace Owens amplified it on her YouTube-based podcast, where she has 1.67 million subscribers, insinuating that Benza’s statement must be true because Foxx’s family didn’t outright condemn it. A clip on Owens’ YouTube page of her discussing Foxx’s condition had more than 180,000 views Wednesday.
The unsubstantiated claim is part of a continued push among some far-right personalities to cast doubt on the safety of vaccines, even though studies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have affirmed that vaccines are safe and effective.
The claim about Foxx was first made by a gossip columnist on the online talk show “Ask Dr. Drew.”
A.J. Benza, a podcaster who formerly worked for the New York Daily News, told Dr. Drew Pinsky on his program on May 30 that Foxx was left “partially paralyzed and blind” after he received a Covid vaccine. Benza alleged that Foxx was forced to get a vaccine while he was working on a film. He claimed he had a source “in the room” with Foxx and that the performer developed a blood clot, which led to a stroke, after he got vaccinated. Pinsky didn’t challenge the claim.
Benza didn’t name the source. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foxx’s representatives said in an email that Benza’s claim is “completely inaccurate.” Although Foxx was hospitalized for an undisclosed illness in April, his daughter Corinne Foxx said in an Instagram Story post that he had been home for weeks and was well enough to play pickleball.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Benza’s disputed claim from running rampant on social media. Far-right commentators like Candace Owens amplified it on her YouTube-based podcast, where she has 1.67 million subscribers, insinuating that Benza’s statement must be true because Foxx’s family didn’t outright condemn it. A clip on Owens’ YouTube page of her discussing Foxx’s condition had more than 180,000 views Wednesday.