Black Panther star Letitia Wright has quit Twitter after getting blowback for tweeting a COVID conspiracy video that contained transphobic language.
Before leaving, Wright was unapologetic for posting the offensive video, complaining about the so-called cancel culture, before making excuses about why she posted it.
Related: Has the breakthrough of ‘Black Panther’ created an opening for a queer superhero?
The video, created by brothers Tomi and Tobi Arayomi, is a rambling mess combing COVID, transgender people, vaccines and climate change. It has since been removed from YouTube for spreading debunked coronavirus misinformation.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Tomi Arayomi hosts the video and claims at one point that he hopes any potential vaccine for the coronavirus doesn’t “make extra limbs grow.” He admits he doesn’t “understand vaccines medically.”
Arayomi offensively tried to use transgender people to explain why he didn’t believe in the science behind the pandemic.
“If you look at somebody that was genetically born a male but you say ‘that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl, that’s a girl’ enough times, eventually you will force compliance by the composition of my speech to say something that I just technically, biologically don’t believe it.”
After fans started to express disappointment that the actor would spread transphobia and misinformation about a deadly disease, Wright blew them off.
“If you don’t conform to popular opinions, but ask questions and think for yourself,” she tweeted, “you get cancelled.”
“My intention was not to hurt anyone,” she said in a follow-up tweet. “My ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.”
When her non-apology failed to calm the storm, including a tweet from co-star Don Cheadle expressing disappointment in her actions, Wright deactivated her account. It’s unclear whether or not she will return.
