Jennifer Aniston Has a Firm Stance on Vaccines—and She’s Willing to Put Her Friendships On the Line
Jennifer Aniston got real about her feelings on Covid-19 vaccinations this week. In a candid interview, the openly liberal celebrity admitted she’d lost friends and distanced herself over the issue, and said that “fear” drives the decision for too many people.
Jennifer Aniston said vaccinations are a matter of “obligation”
In an interview with InStyle, Aniston said that even after the past year of “insanity” due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, “there’s still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don’t listen to the facts,” she told InStyle. Aniston explained that she’d lost contact with people who simply wouldn’t get the vaccine or wouldn’t disclose whether they’d had it.
“It’s a real shame,” she said. “I’ve just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose [whether or not they had been vaccinated], and it was unfortunate. I feel it’s your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we’re not all podded up and being tested every single day.”
The Mother’s Day star didn’t specify which friends or acquaintances she was referring to but expressed frustration with their decision not to get the vaccine.
“It’s tricky because everyone is entitled to their own opinion — but a lot of opinions don’t feel based in anything except fear or propaganda,” Aniston told the publication.
Jennifer Aniston is one of many celebrities speaking out about vaccines
Aniston is by far not the only major celebrity to speak out about their feelings regarding vaccines. Martha Stewart said she was “proud” to be getting a shot in a January Instagram post.
“I am so proud of and grateful to the doctors, nurses and medical staff who are wading through the red tape and confusion of the distribution of these very important vaccines,” she wrote at the time. “I am excited to have received my dosage and look forward to the booster,” she wrote.
Good As Hell singer Lizzo shared her feelings about the virus in an Instagram live last month, slamming people for being “sloppy” with “personal space. “I don’t care who you are,” Lizzo said. “You could be the nicest person. You could be vaccinated. You could be quadruple vaccinated. If you see me, please give me 6 feet. This s—t is coming back. And people being real sloppy with personal space. It’s not you! It’s me. I’m not trying to catch nothing. I don’t even want to catch feelings, bitch. You think I’m trying to catch COVID?”
And This Is Us actor Mandy Moore also took to Instagram in a story, emphasizing the millions of lives lost to the virus.
“Pushing a narrative?” Moore wrote. “About a virus that has killed over 4 million people worldwide in the last year and the life-saving vaccines we have to combat it? I will continue using my platform to speak out about it because it’s about protecting the most vulnerable among us.”
The ‘Friends: The Reunion’ actor is an outspoken Democrat
As the country divides itself along political lines on the issue of Covid vaccines, it’s worth noting that Aniston, one of Hollywood’s more powerful actors, has put money into what she believes. In 2019, CNN reported that Aniston had financially backed Pete Buttigieg as a Democratic presidential candidate. And she wasn’t alone. Famously Democratic Hollywood has a history of getting behind liberal causes, and the latest (and most polarizing) seems to be the question of vaccines.
She’s not leaving any question as to where she stands on that one.
