'It raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains': British Black Panther star Letitia Wright doubles down on COVID anti-vax video by 'prophet' who asks if vaccine will implant 5G antennas inside people
Black Panther star Letitia Wright has doubled down on her anti-vaccine views after sharing a video by a 'prophet' who asked if the injection will implant 5G antennas inside people or create human-animal 'chimeras'.
The British actress was slammed by her Marvel co-star Don Cheadle on Thursday night after she posted the YouTube clip that questioned the efficacy of the Covid jab.
She posted the link to UK Youtuber Tomi Arayomi's post called 'COVID-19 VACCINE, SHOULD WE TAKE IT?' next to a prayer hand emoji.
Arayomi is a Christian who claims to converse with angels and runs a ministry that charges members for lessons at his 'school', and describes himself as 'a well recognised Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV'.
Wright's post sparked a fierce backlash with many asking Cheadle to call out 27-year-old Wright for posting the video . The actor called the footage shared by Wright 'hot garbage' and said what was claimed in it was 'F****d up'.
Wright doubled down today, saying she did not mean to offend people but wanted to raise her fears about what goes into vaccines.
She wrote on Twitter: 'My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.'
The actress grew up in London and has starred in a string of movies including Avengers: Infinity War and 2019 Avengers: Endgame.
Star Wars actor John Boyega describes her as a close friend and People magazine yesterday published a joint interview with the two, but he has yet to comment on the episode.
Black Panther star Letitia Wright was mercilessly crucified on Twitter on Thursday night after she posted a fact-free YouTube video that questioned the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Star Wars actor John Boyega describes her as a close friend but has yet to comment on the episode (pictured together in New York City in 2018)
Toni Arayomi describes himself as 'a well recognised Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV. An online mission that seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence'
Wright said it was not her intention to make anyone upset and she was not saying 'don't take' the jab, but added: 'I'm just concerned about what's in it that's all.'
The clip she shared was from On The Table - a YouTube channel presented by Arayomi, a law graduate whose mother is a dentist and father is a doctor. He says his ministry: 'seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence.'
He also heads an organisation called 'RIGnation' that says it is 'is a global movement focused on training prophets to be people and people to be prophets'.
Wright shared a video from YouTube discussion channel 'On The Table' in which the presenter said 'I don't understand vaccines medically' before rolling into a fact-free monologue full of personal anecdotes and his personal feelings on vaccines in general
After being drawn into the argument on Twitter, Wright's Marvel Cinematic Universe co-start Don Cheadle (pictured right) criticised the contents of the video shared by Wright, calling it 'hot garbage' and 'F****d up'
The law graduate 'prophet' from Berkshire who doesn't believe in evolution and fears 5G antennas
Toni Arayomi describes himself as 'a well recognised Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV. An online mission that seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence.'
As of last year Arayomi was a member of the 'British Isles Council of Prophets', which gathers 'prophetic voices' across the UK and Ireland.
Toni Arayomi describes himself as 'a well recognised Prophet
The website says the YouTuber received Jesus at 15 and began ministry at 16, serving as a pastor.
Arayomi studied law at Hertfordshire University and has a wife called Tahmar and son called Harvey.
He is said to have published more than 10 books and is a co-pastor at 'My Church' in Windsor, Berkshire.
The website says: 'He believes God has called him to the ministry of transformation on a personal level and on a National level.
'Together with his wife Tahmar and his son Harvey they believe they have been called to train people to be prophets and prophets to be people.'
It continues: 'He has proven this time and time again by influencing decision makers and world leaders in diverse Countries.'
The page adds: 'Tomi believes in the restoration of Prophet and State- he often says - ''the day will come where governments of Nations shall seek the prophets again!'
He says: 'Our aim is to raise 7,000 Apostles and Prophets from across the world who are ready to transform the world!'
The description of his YouTube video says: 'Tonight I'm talking about Luciferase, the ingredient allegedly being added to the COVID vaccine to detect those who have not taken it. Luciferase, named by its founder after Lucifer???'
Luciferase is a photoluminescent enzyme that glows when exposed to light of a certain wavelength.
It has been suggested it could be used in vaccines in developing countries to detect who has already been vaccinated. Lucifer is also Greek for light-bringer.
Luciferase is not used in vaccines deployed in the US, UK, Europe and countries with developed health care systems.
In the podcast Arayomi says: 'I don't understand vaccines medically, but I've always been a little bit of a skeptic of them.'
He complains about being 'peer-pressured' into being made to have a flu shot as a child.
Arayomi also complains about social media network censorship and accuses them and self-appointed 'fact checkers' of shutting down 'any voice that does not toe the main narrative'.
He also asks whether any coronavirus vaccine that contains animal DNA will turn people into human-animal 'chimeras', a 'half-human, a half- animal creature' that he says appears in the Bible.
Some vaccines, including the NHS 6-in-1 vaccine and rotovirus vaccine, are made using organisms derived from animal materials to grow microorganisms, and have been for decades.
Arayomi also questions whether metal contained in the vaccine will create antennas inside the body that pick up 5G signals and says 'this could be true'.
He says he does not believe in evolution and criticises claims he 'came from a monkey'.
'I don't believe I came from a monkey. I think it takes more faith to believe I came from Monkey than from God. Don't be a monkey!'
'If you believe you came from a monkey, you sir are a monkey!'
In a separate video, he tells followers how an angel visited him in his office in September and told him that US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was about to die.
After sharing the video, Wright quickly became involved in arguments with other Twitter users criticising her for sharing the video, in their view irresponsibly.
The actress, who has over 360,000 followers on Twitter, defended her sharing of the video by saying she believed it is important to 'ask questions' about the vaccine.
'I think it's valid and fair to simply ask what's in it,' she replied to one user who was calling her out on the platform.
Further doubling-down on her position following more criticism, she said 'if you don't conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled.'
As the argument grew on Thursday and into Friday, Wright's Marvel Cinematic Universe co-star Cheadle waded into the debate.
Cheadle is known to be outspoken on politics and other issues, and when Twitter users began tagging him in Wright's post, he began to engage with users as well.
After facing criticism on Twitter, Wright said that it was not her intention to make anyone upset, but said she was concerned about what's in the Covid-19 vaccine. 'Isn't that a fair question to ask?'
After being drawn into the Twitter row, Wright's Marvel co-star Don Cheadle called the video 'hot garbage' and what was said in it 'F****d up'
The Guyanese-British actress who rose from a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit award to global recognition in Black Panther
Letitia Wright, 27, was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and lived there until she was seven.
Her family moved to London where she lived in Tottenham and attended a state school.
Despite global fame through her Hollywood career, she has said: 'I'll always be a north London girl.'
The actress was among the 2015 group of BAFTA Breakthrough Brits for her role in the award-winning film Urban Hymn.
She later featured in The Commuter and Ready Player One before she gained global recognition with Black Panther.
In the 2018 film she played Shuri, which led to spin off roles in The Avengers blockbusters.
Wright has also starred on the small screen, with parts in Doctor Who, Holby City and Black Mirror.
But life has not always been plain sailing. She opened up abouyt her battle with depression in an interview in 2018.
She told Vanity Fair it began when she was 20 and was 'was in the dark going through so many bad things'.
She said her Christian faith helped her overcome the struggle.
After watching sections of the YouTube video, Cheadle Tweeted: 'Jesus... just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and f****d up.
'I would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won't throw her away over it. the rest i'll take off twitter. had no idea.'
Wright later posted: 'If you don't conform to popular opinions, but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled.'
Wright, who in addition to Black Panther and the Marvel movies has starred in Death on the Nile, Black Mirror and who is currently starring in Steve McQueen's acclaimed Small Axe, faced wider backlash on Twitter as well.
NHS doctor and BAFTA award winning TV presenter Ranj Singh commented: ''Lucifer' means light-bearer in Latin & Theology (as you probably know).
'Luciferases are enzymes that glow under certain conditions and are really useful in medical science.
'They literally produce light. This has precisely NOTHING to do with religion I'm afraid.'
Cancer researcher Dr David Grimes put: 'Hi - the safety & efficacy of vaccination is not an opinion, it is a fact.
'The evidence for this is simply overwhelming. Anti-vaccine propaganda, by contrast, is a litany of obvious falsehoods.'
He added: 'Endorsing such fictions is the polar opposite of critical thought.'
Actor and musician Alex Sawyer replied to her tweet sharing the video, saying 'This is a frustratingly irresponsible use of a platform.'
'How so?,' Wright replied. 'Did you listen to it fully or jump to conclusions on how I use my platform?'
Composer Matt Morgan wrote: 'Totally fair to question what we might be putting in our bodies.
'But just curious why you listen to/repost THIS guy (who himself admits he doesn't know what he's talking about) rather than actual doctors or epidemiologists who specialize in studying diseases/vaccines?'
Dr Fauci says SORRY for accusing UK of 'rushing' Pfizer vaccine approval
Dr Anthony Fauci has apologised for his attack on Britain over its approval of a coronavirus vaccine.
He backed down in the diplomatic row after he accused the UK drug regulator of failing to adequately scrutinise data from manufacturers before clearing the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for use.
His apology came just hours after Joe Biden asked him to be his chief medical adviser.
Dr Fauci, who is also under pressure from the Trump administration to explain why the US was beaten by Britain, likened London's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to a marathon runner who cheats by joining 'in the last mile'.
He raised safety questions over the speed at which the MHRA acted to approve the treatment, telling CBS News: 'I love the Brits, they're great, they're good scientists, but they just took the data from the Pfizer company and instead of scrutinizing it really, really carefully, they said: ''OK, let's approve it, that's it'.'
Mr Fauci later clarified his remarks, saying: 'I did not mean to imply any sloppiness on the part of the UK regulators, even though it came out that way, I apologise', adding there was 'no judgement on the way the UK did it. It came out wrong. I do have great faith in the scientific and regulatory community in the UK'.
Canadian filmmaker and YouTuber Evan Hadfield poked fun at Wright's tweet, saying 'I for one am proud of you, it takes guts to go on the internet and blast to millions that you intend to kill people because you think doctors know less about medicine than my one weird aunt.'
Another user shared a picture that said 'I did my own research' with the footnote: 'Watched someone else's s**tty YouTube video.'
Other users pointed to host Tomi Arayomi's previous comments on the channel that have been perceived to be transphobic, with Wright's fans questioning why she would share a video with someone who has expressed such views in the past.
Arayomi describes himself as 'a well recognised Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV, an online mission that seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence.'
As of last year he was a member of the 'British Isles Council of Prophets', which gathers 'prophetic voices' across the UK and Ireland.
The website says the YouTuber received Jesus at 15 and began ministry at 16, serving as a pastor.
Arayomi studied law at Hertfordshire University and has a wife called Tahmar and son called Harvey.
He is said to have published more than 10 books and is a co-pastor at 'My Church' in Windsor, Berkshire.
The website says: 'He believes God has called him to the ministry of transformation on a personal level and on a National level.
'Together with his wife Tahmar and his son Harvey they believe they have been called to train people to be prophets and prophets to be people.'
It continues: 'He has proven this time and time again by influencing decision makers and world leaders in diverse Countries.'
The page adds: 'Tomi believes in the restoration of Prophet and State- he often says - ''the day will come where governments of Nations shall seek the prophets again!'
HOW DO THE MODERNA AND PFIZER/BIONTECH VACCINES COMPARE?
Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have both released interim results of the final stage clinical trials of their vaccines, with both suggesting they are extremely effective.
Here's how they compare:
CREATOR:
MODERNA
PFIZER & BIONTECH
How it works:
mRNA vaccine – Genetic material from coronavirus is injected to trick immune system into making 'spike' proteins and learning how to attack them.
mRNA vaccine – both Moderna's and Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccines work in the same way.
How well does it work?
94.1% effective (90 positive in placebo group, 5 positive in vaccine group)
90% effective (estimated 86 positive in placebo group, 9 positive in vaccine group)
How much does it cost?
US has secured 100million doses for $1.525billion (£1.16bn), suggesting it will cost $15.25 (£11.57) per dose; $30.50 (£23.14) per person.
US will pay $1.95bn (£1.48bn) for the first 100m doses, suggesting a cost of $19.50 (£14.80) per dose; $39 (£29.61) per person.
Can we get hold of it?
Moderna will produce 20m doses this year, expected to stay in the US.
First vaccinations expected in December.
What side effects does it cause?
Moderna said the vaccine is 'generally safe and well tolerated'. Most side effects were mild or moderate but included pain, fatigue and headache, which were 'generally' short-lived.
Pfizer and BioNTech did not produce a breakdown of side effects but said the Data Monitoring Committee 'has not reported any serious safety concerns'.