Actress Letitia Wright has deleted her social media accounts after receiving swift backlash for posting a coronavirus anti-vaccination video.
The ‘Black Panther’ star discretely deleted both her Instagram and Twitter accounts on Saturday.
‘Sorry, this page isn’t available,’ read her old Instagram account, which boasted 2.1 million followers, while Twitter said her account no longer exists.
It’s the latest turn in the 27-year-old’s controversy that sparked on Thursday, when she shared a link to a YouTube video that questioned if people should take the Covid-19 vaccine.
The clip she shared was from On The Table – a YouTube channel presented by Arayomi, a law graduate whose mother is a dentist and father is a doctor.
Actress Letitia James has deleted her Instagram and Twitter accounts this weekend after receiving backlash on social media. Pictured: Letitia Wright playing ‘Shuri’ in Black Panther
A search for Wright’s Twitter account brings up a blank page and the phrase ‘this account doesn’t exist’
Wright’s Instagram page, which had 2.1 million followers, was also not available on Saturday evening
He says his ministry ‘seeks to restore the ability to hear the voice of God to every person on every sphere of influence.’
The description of his YouTube video says: ‘Tonight I’m talking about Luciferase, the ingredient allegedly being added to the COVID vaccine to detect those who have not taken it. Luciferase, named by its founder after Lucifer???’
Luciferase is a photoluminescent enzyme that glows when exposed to light of a certain wavelength.
It has been suggested it could be used in vaccines in developing countries to detect who has already been vaccinated. Lucifer is also Greek for light-bringer. Luciferase is not used in vaccines deployed in the US, UK, Europe and countries with developed health care systems.
Toni Arayomi describes himself as ‘a well recognised Prophet and the Managing Director of Prophetic Voice TV
Wright shared a video from YouTube discussion channel ‘On The Table’ in which the presenter said ‘I don’t understand vaccines medically’ before rolling into a fact-free monologue full of personal anecdotes and his personal feelings on vaccines in general
In the podcast Arayomi says: ‘I don’t understand vaccines medically, but I’ve always been a little bit of a skeptic of them.’
He complains about being ‘peer-pressured’ into being made to have a flu shot as a child.
He also asks whether any coronavirus vaccine that contains animal DNA will turn people into human-animal ‘chimeras’, a ‘half-human, a half- animal creature’ that he says appears in the Bible.
Some vaccines, including the NHS 6-in-1 vaccine and rotovirus vaccine, are made using organisms derived from animal materials to grow microorganisms, and have been for decades.
Arayomi also questions whether metal contained in the vaccine will create antennas inside the body that pick up 5G signals and says ‘this could be true’.
Wright shared the video with the ‘praying hands’ emoji, but offered no other comment.
Wright (pictured): ‘If you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself…you get cancelled’
After facing criticism on Twitter, Wright said that it was not her intention to make anyone upset, but said she was concerned about what’s in the Covid-19 vaccine. ‘Isn’t that a fair question to ask?’
Fans immediately accused her of spreading false and potentially dangerous content that could bolster misinformation. Worldwide, Covid-19 has infected more than 66million people and killed 1.5million.
Pfizer–BioNTech has been approved for use in the United Kingdom and will begin distribution in the coming week. The FDA is still reviewing a vaccine for the U.S.
She then went back-and-forth with fans as she attempted to defend herself over the video.
‘I think it’s valid and fair to simply ask what’s in it,’ Wright replied to one user who was calling her out on the platform.
‘If you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself…you get cancelled.’
She doubled-down on her stance soon after, writing on Friday: ‘My intention was not to hurt anyone, 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.’
All three tweets were deleted before Wright’s social media accounts.
Wright, who played ‘Shruri’ in the Marvel franchise,’ also received scrutiny from co-star Don Cheadle.
‘Jesus… just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time I stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and f****d up.
‘I would never defend anybody posting this. but I still won’t throw her away over it. the rest i’ll take off twitter. had no idea.’
NHS doctor and BAFTA award winning TV presenter Ranj Singh commented: ”Lucifer’ means light-bearer in Latin & Theology (as you probably know).
‘Luciferases are enzymes that glow under certain conditions and are really useful in medical science.
‘They literally produce light. This has precisely NOTHING to do with religion I’m afraid.’
Cancer researcher Dr David Grimes put: ‘Hi – the safety & efficacy of vaccination is not an opinion, it is a fact.
‘The evidence for this is simply overwhelming. Anti-vaccine propaganda, by contrast, is a litany of obvious falsehoods.
He added: ‘Endorsing such fictions is the polar opposite of critical thought.’
Actor and musician Alex Sawyer replied to her tweet sharing the video, saying ‘This is a frustratingly irresponsible use of a platform.’
‘How so?’ Wright replied. ‘Did you listen to it fully or jump to conclusions on how I use my platform?’
After being drawn into the argument on Twitter, Wright’s Marvel Cinematic Universe co-star Don Cheadle (pictured right) criticised the contents of the video shared by Wright, calling it ‘hot garbage’ and ‘F****d up’
Ranj Singh: ”Luciferases are enzymes that glow under certain conditions and are really useful in medical science. They literally produce light. This has precisely NOTHING to do with religion I’m afraid.’
Both the Food and Drug Administrations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend people receive vaccinations.
‘According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccines have reduced preventable infectious diseases to an all-time low and now few people experience the devastating effects of measles, pertussis and other illnesses,’ the FDA wrote.
The CDC added: ‘Vaccines can prevent infectious diseases that once killed or harmed many infants, children, and adults.’
This week, the Guyana-born actress also liked Twitter posts that called for the Black Panther sequel to be cancelled and her to be re-cast.
Wright had been slated to take on a more prominent role in the Black Panther sequel following the death of the Marvel hit’s star Chadwick Boseman earlier this year.
Eagle-eyed fans spotted Wright had likes tweets calling for the cancelation of the movie
She liked other tweets that read ‘cancel Black Panther 2 immediately’ and ‘nah she needs to be recast’, appearing to answer to her earlier claims that people are instantly ‘cancelled’.
Marvel Studios and its owners Disney have not yet commented on the controversy or on whether they will act on calls for Wright to be replaced.
The movie was scheduled to finally begin filming in July 2021 with a release date in May 2022.
Its plot was expected to detail Shuri’s succession to the throne and her attempts to become the next Black Panther.
The actress grew up in London and has starred in a string of movies including Avengers: Infinity War and 2019 Avengers: Endgame.
Star Wars actor John Boyega describes her as a close friend and People magazine yesterday published a joint interview with the two, but he has yet to comment on the episode.