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28 Celebrities Who Are Anti-Vaxxers

To properly understand the anti-vaccination movement, we first need to understand what exactly vaccines are, what they’re made of, and the history behind them. A vaccine contains the same germs (or a part of the disease germ) that cause the disease. The germs have been weakened or killed, so they won’t make people sick. When someone gets a vaccine, it stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies.

Basically, your body responds to the vaccine the same way it would to the actual disease. This allows you to build up a defense or immunity against a disease. Some vaccines, like the flu shot, must be done every year because the disease changes so rapidly. Others, like tetanus, might not need to be updated for as long as 30 years to have lasting immunity.

The earliest form of vaccine was given in Ancient China during the Song Dynasty to prevent smallpox. Of course, there have been skeptics across the history of vaccinations. The anti-vax movement has never been quite like the way it is now, but it’s not unfamiliar. In the late 1790s, controversy surrounded Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine because of distrust in doctors, sanitation concerns, and religious reasons.

The modern anti-vax movement started in England in 1998 after Andrew Wakefield released a report that linked autism to vaccines. Since then, both he and the paper were discredited because Wakefield had manipulated data and used fraudulent research. His paper was retracted, and he lost his medical license, but the anti-vax movement is still going strong today. Celebrities, like the 28 on this list, are partly responsible for furthering the life-threatening propaganda.

Just as a note, we're adding celebrities to the list that are supportive of the choice to vaccinate or not. Since vaccines save lives, being supportive of the choice is basically like being an anti-vaxxer.

Jenna Elfman

Jenna Elfman

Jenna Elfman is an American actress best known for her starring role in Dharma & Greg. She’s also a Scientologist and has spoken out against the practice of psychiatry. Scientologists are usually very critical of the medical profession, leading many members to refuse vaccines. 

(Image via Wikipedia)

Jenny McCarthy

Jenny McCarthy

Jenny McCarthy is an American actress, model, and outspoken anti-vaxxer. Her son was diagnosed with autism and she often talks about how MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella)  vaccines are linked to autism.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

You probably recognize Jim Carrey from movies like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective or The Truman Show. He used to date Jenny McCarthy, which partly influenced his views. Carrey believes that the MMR vaccine causes autism and also criticizes the government for forcing children to get pumped full of unknown chemicals. 

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Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone

You’d remember Alicia Silverstone best for her lead role in Clueless. Silverstone is also known for being a vegan, environmental activist, and anti-vaccine activist. She fears the chemicals inside shots and advises parents to avoid getting children their yearly vaccinations.  

(Image via Wikipedia)

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen

Other than being famous for his terrible personality, Charlie Sheen is best known for his role on Two and a Half Men. Sheen is also outspoken about his anti-vax views. When he divorced his wife, Sheen sent a letter to their daughter’s pediatrician stating he didn’t consent to vaccinate the child. 

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Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley is an American actress and promotional model who is best known for her role on Cheers. Alley is a vocal Scientologist and opposes traditional medical practices, including vaccines. 

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Rob Schneider

Rob Schneider

A well-known comedian and actor, Rob Schneider, is also an outspoken anti-vaxxer. He’s a firm believer that vaccines cause autism and has expressed his disapproval of the government’s mandate on vaccines. 

(Image via Wikimedia)

Bill Maher

Bill Maher

Bill Maher is a comedian and TV show host best known for his talk show Real Time With Bill Maher. He’s against mandatory vaccinations and doesn’t think they should be enforced on first world countries, according to an interview with the Winnipeg Sun.

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Kristen Cavallari

Kristen Cavallari

Cavallari is an actress and fashion designer who is also a famous anti-vaxxer. She once said in a Fox News interview that she hadn’t vaccinated her son. She fears the chemicals in the shots and dislikes the government’s involvement. 

(Image via Wikipedia)

Lisa Bonet

Lisa Bonet

The former mom from The Cosby Show, Lisa Bonet, is against mandatory vaccination. In an interview from 1990, Bonet said she was worried about vaccines introducing “alien microorganisms” into children’s bloodstreams and causing leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. 

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Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton is an American actress and singer who got her start in a family group called The Braxtons. Her son has autism, and Braxton says he first started showing symptoms after her son’s first MMR vaccine. This led the singer to speak out against vaccinating your kids. 

(Image via Instagram)

Robert DeNiro

Robert DeNiro

Robert DeNiro is a legendary actor and is also on the anti-vax train. The Goodfellas actor has previously spoken about the link between vaccines and autism and now does advocacy work for the movement. DeNiro even partnered with an anti-vaccine nonprofit organization called Children’s Health Defense. 

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Kevin Gates

Kevin Gates

Kevin Gilyard, better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is a rapper and singer. He claims he’s done a lot of research on the subject, so he didn’t vaccinate his kids. Gates will tell anyone who listens that he believes his kids are maturing faster than others because they didn’t get their shots. 

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Billy Corgan

Billy Corgan

Billy Corgan is a musician and lead singer for The Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan is opposed to forcing people to get vaccines and using fear-mongering to do so. He’s also publicly stated that he fears the people who make vaccines as well as what’s actually in the life-saving immunizations.

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Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn is a successful American actor who’s been in more than 80 films. Quinn has a daughter with autism and he happens to believe that the condition was caused by the MMR vaccines. According to the actor, his daughter changed into a whole new person overnight after getting the shot. 

(Image via Wikipedia)

Terry Rossio

Terry Rossio

We can thank screenwriter Terry Rossio for classics like Aladdin, Shrek, and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He also took up Andrew Wakefield’s battle and acquired the rights to Wakefield’s book. Rossio has even gone so far as to compare the phrase “anti-vaxxer” to a racial slur. 

(Image via Wikimedia)

Holly Robinson Peete

Holly Robinson Peete

Holly Robinson Peete is an actress who’s well-known for her roles in 21 Jump Street, Howard the Duck, and more. She acknowledges that vaccines save lives, but still thinks they can cause issues. Her son has autism, and she claims the MMR vaccine caused it. 

(Image via Instagram)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an activist, attorney, and author who has placed himself at the forefront of the anti-vax movement. He’s the chairman of Children’s Health Defense (the one Robert DeNiro supports), which spreads the belief that vaccines cause autism, ADD, allergies, cancer, and more. 

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Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann is an American politician from Minnesota and even briefly ran for president in 2012. She doesn’t hate on the MMR vaccine, like most other celebs, but Bachmann fears the HPV vaccine. Bachmann claimes that children, especially little girls, can face “mental retardation” as a result of the vaccine. 

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Alex Jones

Alex Jones

Alex Jones is a far-right conspiracy theorist and radio show host, so you already know he has some outlandish opinions. He runs a fake news website based on conspiracies so we don’t know why anyone would listen to him, but he has a large fan base. He claimes vaccines, especially the MMR vaccine, are dangerous and ineffective. 

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Miranda Bailey

Miranda Bailey

Actress Miranda Bailey is also known for being a producer and documentarian, along with her strange medical views. She doesn’t seem to understand the point of vaccines, because she is against vaccinating babies and small children for things like Hepatitis B, which actually ensures the child’s immunity against the disease. She mostly just hates the law forcing vaccines on kids.

(Image via Larry Busacca/Staff/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)

Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich is a legal clerk who played a key part in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in 1993. The environmental activist is also known for her anti-vax standpoint. She’s a big advocate for freedom of vaccination choice and not allowing the government to tell her what to put in her children’s bodies. 

(Image via Wikipedia)

Danny Masterson

Danny Masterson

You’d remember Danny Masterson best from That ‘70s Show, which was pretty successful. Masterson is now an anti-vaxxer and mistrustful of government regulations. He’s now a Scientologist, so it’s not hard to see where his views came from.  

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Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis

What is it with celebrities being Scientologists? Juliette Lewis, an American actress and singer, has also joined the religion. She’s not super vocal about her medical views but is definitely against the government trying to force her to get vaccinated. 

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Esai Morales

Esai Morales

Esai Morales is an American actor best known for his role as Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue. He’s not really against vaccines themselves but thinks the government mandate is a part of a big scheme to take over the world and brainwash society. Morales also fears mercury poisoning from certain vaccines. 

(Image via Instagram)

Kat Von D

Kat Von D

Kat Von D is a Mexican-American tattoo artist and model and has been in a lot of hot water lately. Other than dating several suspected Nazi sympathizers, Von D has faced criticism for her anti-Semitic comments and now for her anti-vax stance. 

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Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel

Actress Jessica Biel is really throwing herself into the anti-vax movement and isn’t being quiet about it either. She joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lobby against a bill that forces people to get their yearly shots. Biel put herself in the center of a movement that states vaccines are unsafe and harmful for children. 

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Selma Blair

Selma Blair

Selma Blair is an actress who is most famous for her roles in Zoe and Hellboy. She recently revealed that she has multiple sclerosis, so she’s no stranger to doctors. She hasn’t explicitly said that she’s against vaccines, but she’s a strong advocate of the right to choose and protested a bill that would remove personal belief exemptions. 

(Image via Instagram)