F1 star Lewis Hamilton is slammed by fans for sharing anti-vaxxer post with his 18m Instagram followers accusing billionaire Bill Gates of lying over coronavirus trials
Lewis Hamilton has been heavily criticised after sharing an anti-vaxxer video to his 18.3million Instagram followers.
The six-time Formula One champion, 35, shared the video by content creator King Bach on his Instagram story twice.
In the video, which has since disappeared from Hamilton’s story, tech billionaire Bill Gates is being interviewed about the progress towards getting a vaccine to combat Covid-19.
The caption that is attached to the video which was shared by Hamilton – although not written by him – reads: ‘I remember when I told my first lie’.
Lewis Hamilton (right) has faced fierce criticism after he shared an anti-vaxxer video to his Instagram story (left) which came with the caption: ‘I remember when I told my first lie’
Sportsmail has contacted Hamilton’s representatives over the re-sharing of the video, which has since been deleted from his story.
Gates, the Microsoft founder, now directs much of his time and energy to his global health foundation and backs South Korean company SK Bioscience.
In the video he is heard playing down concerns over potential side-effects of a coronavirus vaccine and rubbishes the baseless suggestions that he wants to embed tracking chips into a vaccine.
Gates gave $3.6million (£2.8m) to the company in May for the purpose of accelerating the development of a vaccine to combat Covid-19.
And in a letter to South Korean president Moon Jae-in, as reported by Fortune, Gates stated he was convinced the company could produce as many as 200m vaccine kits by June 2021.
But there remains dissenting voices about vaccination and Hamilton’s decision to share the post, which suggested Gates was lying in an interview on US television, has been met with condemnation.
One Hamilton fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Oh @LewisHamilton Please don’t spread antivax nonsense. I’ve been a huge fan for years through thick and thin, but spreading antivax nonsense is outrageously irresponsible.’
Hamilton’s fans have slammed his re-posting of the video which suggests Gates was lying
Gates used his appearance on US TV to rubbish the baseless suggestions that he wants to embed tracking chips into a coronavirus vaccine
Others questioned his lack of questioning of the material, with one writing: ‘Disappointed in @LewisHamilton posting Antivaxx nonsense in his IG stories without thought or challenge. Do better.’
In the video, when asked about conspiracy theories that he was responsible for creating the virus, or implanting microchips within a potential vaccine, Gates, with a wry smile, says he has no idea where that baseless suggestion came from.
‘No, there is no connection between any of these vaccines and any tracking type thing,’ he said. ‘I have no idea where this came from.’
He continues: ‘Dr Fauci (America’s top infectious disease official) and I are the two most mentioned. Some of these are deeply ironic. Our foundation is about reducing death and bringing equity to health.
‘The idea that we get accused of creating chips, or the virus – I think we need to get the truth out there, and explain our values, and why we are willing to put billions towards accelerating the progress.
‘It’s a little unclear to me, but I hope this will die down as people get the facts.’