Hollywood Is Apparently More Divided About Vaccines Than It Appears

Apparently, Hollywood is not as unified about the COVID-19 vaccine front as the industry might have us believe. According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter, there’s a serious rift in Hollywood among those who have gotten the COVID vaccine and those who have not, which has led to at least one instance of a COVID outbreak break on a major film set. 

Per the story, an A-list actor who was known to be “dismissive of vaccines and masks” contracted COVID while on set and had to be hospitalized. Reportedly, dozens of crew members got sick and the film was forced to shut down for three weeks, which cost the production company somewhere amounting to seven figures. In the story written by Tatiana Siegel, Chris Gardner, and Borys Kit, THR refers to the actor using male pronouns—but does not disclose his identity, because the actor “didn’t flout any specific protocol on the project.” The actor in question declined THR’s request to comment. 

As of yet, there are no universal vaccine mandates in place in Hollywood, which leaves individual producers to determine COVID-19 protocols on each set. This has led to different requirements for proof of vaccination on Hollywood sets, and divergent outcomes. The Daily Mail wrote in September that The Offer, Paramount+’s forthcoming series about the making of The Godfather, was rocked when reportedly unvaccinated star Miles Teller allegedly tested positive for COVID, which led to a a production shutdown that amounted to $6 million for the studio. At the time, Teller’s publicist told the paper that their “facts are incorrect,” while a rep for Paramount+ told THR that the number was less than $6 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, in July, Oscar-winner Sean Penn left the set of NBCUniversal’s Watergate-era limited series Gaslit (co-starring Julia Roberts) and refused to return until every member of the production was vaccinated. Ultimately, Penn returned two months later with the compromise that everyone in Zone A—a category that typically includes the project’s main actors and key crew members—get vaccinated. Penn has been extremely vocal about his opinions regarding the vaccine, telling THR while promoting his film Flag Day that he wants theatergoers to “stay home until you are convinced of these very clearly safe vaccines.” 

Still, not every A-lister shares Penn’s sentiment. Black Panther star Letitia Wright reportedly parted ways with her entire U.S. team after sharing an anti-vaccine video on social media. Per THR, Wright—who was hospitalized in August due to minor injuries she sustained while filming Marvel’s Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever—has continued to share her skepticism of the COVID vaccine while on set. Disney, Marvel’s parent studio, did not immediately respond to V.F.’s request for comment. 

Despite the lack of a vaccine mandate for Hollywood, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) worked with unions to establish on-set COVID protocols in September 2020 that will remain in effect until October 31, 2021. After that point, it’s unclear which path Hollywood will take on the vaccine front. 

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