Idris Elba has slammed the conspiracy theories claiming that celebrities are paid to say that they are infected by the new coronavirus, aka COVID-19.
He took to Instagram Live to deny such claims.
The 47-year-old actor said, “I think the debate about rich and poor and who’s getting it and who’s not, I think, is not a healthy debate.”
“It’s like, I got a test but I also got COVID. Does that make me preferential? I don’t understand that,” he added.
He said people have been engaging in test-shaming, calling it “counterproductive.” Elba said, “And also this idea that someone like myself is gonna be paid to say ‘I’ve got coronavirus,’ that’s absolute bulls**t. Such s***dness.”
“People wanna spread that as if it’s news. That’s s***d,” Elba continued. “It’s the quickest way to get people sick because there’s no benefit to me and [wife] Sabrina sitting here saying we’ve got it or we ain’t got it. I don’t even understand the logic of that.”
Elba, who played Heimdall in Thor, 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.”
Elba is among a growing number of celebrities, such as Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Colton Underwood, and Kristofer Hivju, who have revealed their coronavirus diagnoses. The article originally appeared on Fox News.
