Shazam's Zachary Levi sparks anti-vax rumors after posting controversial tweet
People are flocking to social media to warn actor Zachary Levi about a misleading tweet he wrote.
Zachary Levi has been plunged into the spotlight ahead of upcoming superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods - with Levi playing the titular character of DC Comic's Shazam.
However, the 42-year-old actor's name has also been on the tip of people's lips as a result of his response to a tweet posted by entrepreneur Lyndon Wood.
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Wood took to the social media platform to ask followers whether they agreed or not with the statement: "Pfizer is a real danger to the world."
Levi's response reads: "Hardcore agree."
However Levi's 'hardcore agree' has lead to fans not being best pleased, with many flooding to the tweet to denounce their support for him and his upcoming release, having interpreted Wood and Levi's tweets to be about the coronavirus Pfizer vaccine.
"Here I was, actually kind of excited for your movie. But nah. I’m not supporting you now," one Twitter user wrote.
Another added: "Bro how u gonna kill ur movie before it even starts smh."
However, Levi went on to share a link to a news article from the US Department of Justice titled, 'Justice Department Announces Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement In Its History,' tweeting: "Just one example of what I'm referring to."
The article states: "American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc. (hereinafter together 'Pfizer') have agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice, to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products, the Justice Department announced today."
The fraud settlement relates to Pfizer's selling of a drug called Bextra - also known as Valdecoxib - which was used in the treatment of conditions such as arthritis and painful menstruation.
Bextra was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001, however the approval was later withdrawn in 2005 over concerns surrounding 'adverse skin reactions' and cardiovascular (CV) adverse events.
While this later tweet by Levi clarified he was agreeing with Wood's statement in regards to Pfizer the pharmaceutical industry company, opposed to simply the Pfizer vaccine, followers have been quick to condemn the actor's lack of clarity.
One said: "That's not what people think about when they see 'Pfizer is dangerous' and you know it."
"So to clarify, you’re not an anti-vax guy because you sure boosted their spirits when it looks like this. A non-reply tweet would clear that up," another added.
A third commented: "If you didn’t realize you were retweeting anti-vaccination propaganda, now would be a good time to say that. There are plenty of reasons to take issue with @pfizer but it is on you to be very, very clear with lives at stake."
Although, another noted: "The way people jump to conclusions and assume the worst is the most toxic part of twitter."
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Topics: Film and TV, Coronavirus, Health, Twitter, Social Media
Poppy Bilderbeck