Jim Carrey used a photo of an autistic boy in his anti-vaxx rant. That boy’s mother is not happy.
In case you missed it, 90s megastar Jim Carrey tweeted an infuriating, anti-vaccination rant earlier this week.
Carrey, 53, tweeted on Wednesday: “A trillion dollars buys a lot of expert opinions. Will it buy you? TOXIN FREE VACCINES, A REASONABLE REQUEST!”
Along with that tweet, Carrey posted a photograph of a clearly distressed little boy with autism. (He has also posted lots of other anti-vaxx rubbish, like the below tweet:)
As Salon reports, the implication of Carrey’s use of the boy’s photo was clear: he was suggesting autism is the result of vaccination.
(Just to be clear, studies have disproved that ‘link’ time and time again.)
But the mother of the boy in Carrey’s picture has revealed the photo was used without the family’s permission — and that her son, 14-year-old Alex Echols, had autism before receiving any vaccinations.
Karen Echols wrote on her family’s blog that Carrey “and is misrepresenting my son’s image by attaching it to his anti-vax rant.”
The post notes: “Alex safely received his vaccinations — his genetic disorder was present at birth.”
It continues:
We feel Mr Carrey was irresponsible in using our son’s image to further his agenda, and feel he should issue an apology for using our son’s image without permission. If Mr. Carrey’s image was used this way, legal action would almost certainly be taken.
We’re not happy that Mr. Carrey used our son’s picture, but we are happy to use this attention to spread the word about our son’s actual struggles.
Salon reports Carrey has also tweeted two other messages with what appear to be stock photographs of crying little boys, accompanied by ‘warnings’ about vaccinations.
Just to clarify: the US Center for Disease Control reports that: “Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines” — so Carrey probably needs to check his facts.
Top Comments
Jim - I appreciate the fact that you have cut back on your public appearances as a comedian, since you are no longer funny. Please don't allow your misguided views on the efficacy and safety of vaccines to replace this time. For a healthier population in general and healthy kids in particular, children need to receive vaccinations.
He built a career on making a fool of himself in movies and now that's tanked he does it on social media instead.
If I had a list of people I would take advice from, this guy would not be on it.