Gerrard Kaonga
Rob Schneider has left people seriously confused after making a bizarre claim on his social media page.
The comedian is well-known for his roles alongside fellow actor Adam Sandler, in Little Nicky, 50 First Dates, and Grown-Ups, though he has a few successful solo films of his own, including The Hot Chick, The Animal, and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
Because of his stint in comedy films, he is likely used to getting laughs from the characters he plays on screen.
But he has recently received some criticism after making a claim on Thursday (October 23) about the existence of children's hospitals when he was a child, as he claimed there weren't any around.
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And while some people on social media insisted this had to be a joke, others started mocking the actor for his remark.
On X (formerly Twitter), Schneider tweeted, seemingly unprompted: "FYI... There were No Children’s hospitals when I was a kid because kids weren’t sick.”
In response, one person was quick to correct him, saying: “I love ya Rob, but I was a frequent flyer to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital back in the 1960s.
“The place has actually been around since 1883, founded by local women to care for sick and injured kids when no one else would.
“Today it’s ranked #1 in the world for pediatric care — a far cry from a new idea. Cincinnati’s been patching up kids for nearly a century and a half.”
Meanwhile, another claimed he was 'somehow dumber than the characters he plays in movies', as a third said that kids have been 'sick since forever', adding: "They have died of everything from small pox to typhoid to measles."
Meanwhile, someone else pointed out organisations like Ronald McDonald's House Charities, which offer support to the families of sick children receiving hospital treatment, with the charity operating in countries such as the US and the UK.
And someone else said that Schneider, who was born in 1963 in San Francisco, 'grew up' next to the Children's Hospital Oakland, which opened in 1912.
The Journal of Paediatrics further states that the first medical facility for children in the US, Paris’ Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, was established in the early 19th century, while the New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were founded in 1854 and 1855.
To make matters worse, he later received a community note that read: “The first Children’s Hospital in the United States was in 1855, and earlier in other parts of the world.”
A previous community note also noted: “Infant mortality was higher in the 1950s-70s, (29.2/1,000 in 1950 vs. 6.1/1,000 in 2010), indicating kids were sick.”
However, Schneider hasn't followed up on his initial post, nor responded to the criticism.
UNILAD has reached out to Schneider's representatives for comment.