Jennifer Aniston has stood her ground after she was criticised online for revealing she had cut people out of her life who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
In an interview with InStyle magazine published earlier this week, the former Friends star described shedding anti-vaxxers from her “weekly routine” as “unfortunate”, but explained she feels a “moral and professional obligation to inform” about protecting against Covid-19.
“There’s still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don’t listen to the facts. It’s a real shame,” she told the US magazine.
She added: “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.”
On Thursday the actor responded to online comments asking why she was concerned about being around unvaccinated friends.
“But if she’s vaccinated she’s protected correct? one commenter wrote. “Why be worried about unvaxxed around her? (shrugging emoji)”
Taking to her Instagram Stories, Jennifer hit back, insisting it was everyone’s responsibility to get jabbed.
“Because if you have the variant, you are still able to give it to me,” she responded. “I may get slightly sick but I will not be admitted to a hospital and or die. BUT I CAN give it to someone else who does not have the vaccine and whose health is compromised (or has a previous existing condition) - and therefore I would put their lives at risk.
“THAT is why I worry. We have to care about more than just ourselves here.”
Jennifer accompanied her response with a picture of her wearing a mask, along with the message: “These comments (disappointed emoji).”
She later also shared a photo of a cross stitch of the message: “What doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again.”
In her Instyle interview, Jennifer also revealed the lessons she had learned during the pandemic.
“There was so much good and so much horror all happening at once. For me, the good was a big decompression and an inventory of ‘What’s it all about?’, she said.
“You and I, we like to work and be busy. Being idle is not preferable. It was important for those who were willing to let it be a reset to slowdown, take all of this in, reassess, reevaluate, and excavate. Literally cleaning out crap that we don’t need.”
She added: “My level of anxiety has gone down by eliminating the unnecessary sort of fat in life that I had thought was necessary. Also realising that you can’t please everybody. And what good does that do if you’re just little bits of yourself? Let’s try to be the full all of who we are so we can come to the table.”