Idris Elba—who tested positive for the coronavirus—addressed a theory that high-profile celebrities are being paid as part of a conspiracy to say they have the coronavirus.
During a recent Instagram Live session, Idris shot the conspiracy theory down.
via Complex:
“I think the debate about rich and poor and who’s getting it and who’s not, I think, is not a healthy debate,” Elba, whose partner Sabrina also tested positive for COVID-19, said. “It’s like, I got a test but I also got COVID. Does that make me preferential? I don’t understand that.”
From there, Elba called on government leaders to step in and sort out the issue of widespread testing “because it shouldn’t be about whether rich or poor gets it.”
Elba then moved to the topic of what he calls “test-shaming,” which ultimately resulted in the addressing of the Cardi-shared conspiracy theory he strongly condemns.
“I think that the negativity around test-shaming is counterproductive,” he said. “I don’t see what people get out of that. And also this idea that someone like myself is gonna be paid to say I’ve got coronavirus? That’s absolute bullshit. Such stupidness. People wanna spread that as if it’s news. That’s stupid. It’s the quickest way to get people sick because there’s no benefit to me and Sabrina sitting here saying we’ve got it or we ain’t got it. I don’t even understand the logic of that.”
Elaborating further, Elba urged his followers to understand that this “isn’t a movie,” but is indeed real life.
“I’m not an actor right now,” he said. “I’m just a human being and I just happen to be in the public eye. So I want people to understand that this is very real. I don’t feel like I’m privileged because I got a test because I actually contracted it.”
One thing is clear — the wealthy do seem to have access to testing in ways that those less-fortunate do not. That’s not cool.
If you care to, you can watch an hour’s worth of his IG Live stream below.
https://youtu.be/rd3P_YdlDKc
