Hollywood has felt the effects of COVID-19 as the business was shut down for nearly a year and has undergone new mandates and protocols to secure safety on sets. Several productions have been paused and millions of dollars have been lost but some actors still aren’t getting vaccinated. Veteran actor Giancarlo Esposito from School Daze and Breaking Bad fame recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and expressed disdain for his fellow thespians who refuse to get the shot.
“If you don’t want to vaccinate, go to a small island and sequester yourself. [Otherwise] you’re saying ‘F– you’ to all you other human beings. We all have to do it if we want to live. I don’t understand how people don’t vaccinate. For me, I’ve lost dear friends, so I know it’s real. Not only in Europe but in America, friends who were completely healthy and uncompromised. The vaccine is the answer. I’m not downing anyone who doesn’t want to vaccinate. Don’t work. Go ride it out somewhere where you’re not going to compromise anyone else if you get it,” Esposito said.
“Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson also weighed in on the vaccine discussion in Hollywood but added that his was a personal choice and not because he felt it should be mandated.
“Each individual has his or her own rights. We aren’t in control of anyone’s body, only that person is. I’m vaccinated because I have preexisting conditions as a type 2 diabetic, so I wanted to make sure that I did whatever I could to stave off this pandemic and COVID. But I’m not here to judge anyone on what they should do with their body. I can only govern what I’m doing with mine. As long as they respect me, I respect them. And as long as we keep our 6-foot distance and wear a mask, then we can interact and do what we want to do. But it’s not my place to police anyone,” Anderson said in the Oct. 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
Sean Penn, George Clooney and Rob Schneider were also part of the discussion as well as Black Panther star Letitia Wright. Wright has voiced her opinions against the vaccination in the past and has shared her anti-vaccine positions on social media.
