Zachary Levi has come beneath hearth from members of the Broadway group after a weird on-line rant by which he makes use of his former co-star Gavin Creel’s demise to advertise a conspiracy concept about COVID-19 vaccines.
In a video posted Monday to Instagram, the “Shazam!” actor stated he believed Creel, with whom he co-starred within the 2016 revival of “She Loves Me” on Broadway, “would still be alive” if he hadn’t gotten vaccinated towards COVID-19.
“I know that this is going to offend some people and make some people mad, and I wish it didn’t,” Levi stated. “So, a few weeks ago, my friend Gavin Creel died. He was 48 years old, and he was one of the healthiest people I knew.”
After suggesting that the COVID-19 vaccines have been “forced on the American public” regardless of identified negative effects together with “turbo cancers,” he added: “Without a shadow of a doubt, I believe that Gavin Creel would be alive right now — right fucking now — he would still be alive if that stuff didn’t get put into his body.”
Creel, beloved by theater followers for his performances in “Hello, Dolly!” and “Into the Woods,” amongst different musicals, died of a uncommon and aggressive type of most cancers final month. The actor’s companion, Alex Temple Ward, advised The New York Instances in a press release that Creel had acquired the prognosis in July.
Levi’s video drew a stern rebuke from Tony-winning actor Norbert Leo Butz, greatest identified for portraying Fiyero within the authentic Broadway manufacturing of “Wicked.”
Walter McBride through Getty Pictures
“So incredibly disappointed you would politicize Gavin’s death. Really tried to give you the benefit here,” Butz wrote. “Made it halfway through, which was hard as hell. But Was utterly heartbroken, as he would have been, that you felt the need to use his life and legacy to promote this awful platform.”
Actor and dancer Chaz Wolcott felt equally, writing: “It is harmful, dangerous and reprehensible that you would weaponize someone’s death of cancer to further your agenda about vaccines. It’s out of control ― and I am appalled at you sharing that level of unproven disinformation with your followers. You should be ashamed.”
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In recent times, Levi has repeatedly sparked controversy together with his conservative views.
The outspoken supporter of former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president final month, calling the transfer “career suicide.”
Days later, The Hollywood Reporter printed an article which speculated that Levi’s drift towards the fitting started after his latest movies, “Harold and the Purple Crayon” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” underperformed on the field workplace.
“When he was cast as Shazam, it was literally his dream,” an insider advised the outlet. “He thought this was his ticket to being The Rock or Chris Evans. But it didn’t happen for him, and he’s bitter about that.”
