Shazam! Star Zachary Levi Sparks Twitter Controversy Over Claim that Pfizer is a ‘Danger’ to the World: ‘Hardcore Agree’
By Lindsay Kornick
“Chuck” and “Shazam” star Zachary Levi brewed a social media storm after expressing his distrust for the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a tweet Sunday morning.
The controversy began when Levi retweeted a question from Moorhouse Group CEO Lyndon Wood who questioned his followers, “Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?”
Levi replied to the question, “Hardcore agree.”
The brief comment stirred intense backlash from left-leaning Twitter accounts, attacking the actor for “disappointing” them after supporting “antivax propaganda.”
Cast member Zachary Levi attends the Warner Bros. Shazam! press line at the 2022 Comic-Con International: San Diego at Hilton Bayfront in San Diego, California, U.S., July 23, 2022.
“Okay, one less movie ticket to spend money on. Stupid,” journalist Marcelo Soares tweeted.
“Blocked for disappointing nonsense,” former A.V. Club writer Dennis Perkins commented.
Attorney Max Kennerly advised, “For your own sake, please call @MarkRuffalo and beg him to help you understand how celebrities can be outspoken critics of corporate America, Big Pharma, and even Pfizer specifically without playing into antivax propaganda.”
Behavioral psychologist Matt Wallaert similarly wrote, “@MarkRuffalo, I know it is DC and Marvel but could we do some sort of intervention here?”
“Here I was, actually kind of excited for your movie. But nah. I’m not supporting you now,” game producer Rasmus Rasmussen tweeted.
Pfizer has been criticized over the efficacy of its vaccine as well as reports suggesting the company lobbied Twitter over Covid-19 vaccine critics.
Comparatively, several other users, mostly conservative, expressed their support for Levi for expressing an opinion contrary to a liberal narrative.
“Glad to see Hollywood waking up,” author Jacob Airey tweeted.
Writer Dominic Riccitello advised, “Ignore the comments from all the morons.”
Former Florida Republican congressional candidate Jim Huff wrote, “Plenty of physicians agree with you, bro. In a couple years, everybody will pretend they always mistrusted Pfizer.”
“Somehow you’ll be in more trouble for this than Ezra Miller will be for anything he’s done,” The Federalist senior writer Sam Mangold-Lenett tweeted, referencing the controversy surrounding the fellow DC actor.
Twitter personality Noam Blum commented, “The funniest news cycle ever is going to be when Zachary Levi has to clarify that he doesn’t like Pfizer for the correct reasons and not for the incorrect reasons.”
Pfizer has come under fire over the past month after revelations from the Twitter Files revealed efforts by the company as well as its partner BioNTech for lobbying social media sites to censor activists and critics questioning the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Findings in 2021 later revealed that the effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dropped to only 42% against the delta variant.
Liesl Eibschutz, a medical student from Dartmouth University, loads a syringe with Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine before giving it to people on the first day that people ages 16 and up can receive the vaccine at Kedren Health on Thursday, April 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA
As recently as Jan. 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also revealed an investigation into “whether there was a safety concern for ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent.”
Though Levi did not comment on the backlash on Twitter, he later posted the 2009 Justice Department report on Pfizer’s $2.3 Billion fraud settlement, the largest health care settlement in history.
“Just one example of what I’m referring to…,” Levi tweeted.
