Eric Clapton likes these anti-vaxxers so much that he’s bankrolling their band
We get it: Eric Clapton is anti-vaccine.
But in case anyone forgot, the veteran singer and guitarist made headlines once again this weekend for funding a British band of anti-vaxxers, who similarly whine about COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines in their songs.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the founder of Jam for Freedom confirmed that the 76-year-old English rocker became the musical act’s most prominent benefactor upon discovering the band’s GoFundMe page seeking money for transportation, gas and legal fees.
It misses the point to say Eric Clapton’s dangerous rhetoric on vaccines can be separated from his music.
At first, drummer and singer Campel McLaughlin thought the $1,000 donation from Clapton was fake — until he received a text message from the “Wonderful Tonight” hitmaker himself encouraging him and his bandmates to continue spreading misinformation about vaccines through their music.
The Clapton text “was something complimentary, along the lines of, ‘Hey, it’s Eric — great work you’re doing,’” McLaughlin recalled.
After their initial correspondence, Clapton even let Jam for Freedom borrow his family’s white, six-person VW Transporter van to cruise around the United Kingdom preaching the anti-vaccine gospel.
Eric Clapton is a blues guitarist inspired by Black musicians who has made racist statements. He is also a vaccinated celebrity catering to the unvaccinated.
And that’s not all: The guitar hero also offered the band extra cash to purchase its own new wheels and entertained the possibility of a collaboration with the group, which identifies as “pro-medical choice” while spouting defiant lyrics such as, “You can stick your poison vaccine up your arse.”
Jam for Freedom’s website now proudly lists Clapton and fellow science-denying rock legend Van Morrison among its supporters.
The latest development in Clapton’s anti-vaccine crusade comes months after the Grammy winner declared he would not perform at any venues with vaccine requirements in place for attendees.
Eric Clapton, one of rock’s most vocal COVID-19 skeptics, says he reserves to right to cancel any show where vaccination becomes a condition of attendance.
Despite his frequent grumblings, Clapton actually is immunized against COVID-19 as of May, when he claimed to have experienced “disastrous” side effects of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.
To be clear, medical experts recommend vaccination as the safest and most effective method of protection against severe illness caused by the coronavirus.
Over the summer, Clapton joined forces with Morrison for a single called “This Has Gotta Stop” — their second collaboration protesting “BS” vaccines and pandemic safety regulations.
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