Chapter 1: What is the controversy surrounding Liam Neeson's narration?
Hi there, welcome back to another episode of Fame Under Fire with me, Amber Hark. I am covering the show while Anushka and Sean take a very well-earned holiday break. Quick introduction to me, I am a documentary maker, I'm a podcaster. I've actually presented a few crime series here on BBC Sounds that you might have heard of.
Bad People, I presented Gangster Presents, Sex, Drugs and Cell Block Parties. I've I also recently travelled to Los Angeles to report on how the Friends actor Matthew Perry died. That documentary is up on BBC iPlayer now. It's called Matthew Perry and the Ketamine Queen, if you want to check it out.
So you could say that I am very used to digging deeper into some of those grey areas, really, where celebrity meets controversy. and the stories here on Fame Under Fire aren't always criminal, but they are almost always complicated. Today's story is about reputation.
What happens when a beloved movie star with a world-famous slogan aligns even indirectly with a highly controversial view or ideology? We are talking about an actor who most famous line is basically a threat memo that I'm going to put money on that you have either used or heard at least once over the years. You know the one. I will find you and I will kill you. Have a little listen to this.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars were being spent on vaccines promoted as the only path forward. But the report reveals these vaccines, rushed to market, were dangerous experiments. Adverse effects were downplayed, safety concerns were ignored, and public health officials silenced dissenting voices. And yet those responsible for these policies continue to evade accountability.
That, of course, was the voice of Liam Neeson, the Irish actor supposedly worth $120 million. You'll know him from colossal movies like The Taken franchise. Of course, he was in Love Actually, Schindler's List, an incredibly versatile actor who has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, three Golden Globes, two Tonys and much more.
But he is now also the narrator of a documentary called Plague of Corruption, 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed. So this is a film which is based on a book co-authored by researcher Dr. Judy Mikovits, who's a former research scientist that has made discredited medical claims. It isn't unusual for actors to step in to do voiceovers for other films.
So why are we talking particularly about this one? Joining us back on the podcast is Crisis PR manager Molly McPherson. Molly, welcome back. And Madeleine Holper is our journalist over in New York. So, Madeleine, for people just hearing about this story, talk us through it. What actually is in this documentary?
Yeah, so you mentioned the film is based on a book by a controversial former scientist, and she's promoted a host of unsubstantiated theories, including several during the COVID pandemic. She said that the coronavirus was spread intentionally by wealthy people to increase vaccination rates. So really a controversial figure.
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Chapter 2: How does Liam Neeson's role impact public perception?
They're saying Liam has never been and is not anti-vaccination, that his extensive work with UNICEF underscores his long held support for For global immunisation and public health initiatives, they say that he did not shape the film's editorial content and any questions about its claims or messaging should be directed to the producers themselves.
Will that distancing be enough, do you think, Molly?
That statement is what I call, you know, where you're threading the needle. I mean, you are certainly dancing around the words to get from point A to point B. But what his representatives are hoping is that people also read between the lines a little to draw conclusions. I think it simply looks like an actor who picked up a narration gig in Hollywood.
Some people will choose projects for themselves. It's their passion. And then they'll choose projects that have more of a financial gain for it. And they don't necessarily have a belief in it. Perhaps Liam Neeson was told this will not have wide distribution. It will be private. It will be behind a paywall. You know, maybe he didn't think it would get as wide of a distribution.
But again, when you get into these messages and issues and ideology, people are going to open the gates on those because they want to gain momentum and get more people to follow. So it could have been a financial payoff for him, but it's coming with a reputational cost, certainly.
It's the context of this documentary that really matters, isn't it, Madeline? Why has this vaccine debate become so tribal, so polarised that even someone just narrating a film can feel like they're choosing sides?
Yeah, you're right. We're at a really polarizing moment in the U.S. in terms of the debate about vaccines. Anti-vaccine views have kind of been on the rise in the U.S. for a long time, and I think were kind of exacerbated during the pandemic. And, you know, these are one sort of fringe views. They've now kind of entered the much more mainstream with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
as health secretary under President Donald Trump. This is a person who's long expressed unsubstantiated views about vaccines, including that they have ties to autism, which has obviously been debunked And so since Kennedy has been appointed as health secretary, he's made a number of kind of massive changes to who and how we recommend vaccines in the U.S.
And that advisory committee has made a number of changes to vaccine recommendations, including last year they ended the recommendation we've had for a long time in the U.S. to vaccinate all newborn babies against hepatitis B. The CDC under Kennedy has also greatly slashed the number of vaccines that they recommend to children. So we've seen just a lot of changes.
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Chapter 3: What claims does the documentary make about vaccines?
Well, the internet kind of never forgets, right? This reminds me a little bit of Robert De Niro. He made an anti-vax film called Unvaxed, I think over a decade now. But if you search and you look up his views, it still comes up. So is that the sort of thing that can follow a celebrity for decades, Molly?
Well, certainly once something is out there, it's out there. But many times the public decides the news coverage, the news cycle. And we certainly see from Liam Neeson and his representatives and his PR, he's definitely putting...
energy into tamping down the story he wants to detach himself from it as much as he can the fact that his representatives came out and firmly said his views that they counter what was narrated on that documentary so it will follow him but how badly you know that we just have to see I'm
I think now he perhaps probably learned a lesson here to remove himself from any type of problematic issue in the future. So he'll hope this goes away. But you just have to leave it to the public to decide whether or not to bring it back in.
Well, on that note of how the public have reacted to things, I was having a little nosy at some of the comments on social media because I was intrigued to see how some of his fans were reacting. And naturally, mix of responses and reactions here, some disappointment, some people saying that he has just taken the money here and not thinking of the kind of responsible messaging to put out.
But on the other side, some people saying, well, why not? Liam Neeson's a person. He's allowed to do what he wants. He's entitled to put his name to any documentary how would you advise a client Molly when their audience is almost splitting in real time like this?
Well, there is a curiosity about what led him to do this. You know, there is some self-interest that drives someone to choose work. And when you're a celebrity or an actor and you're known for your narration, you can choose the projects that you want to pick.
Again, with his representatives, and you said it right now, Amber, in some of the comments, some people are reading between the lines and looking at it that he just chose work. a project for the money. You know, he didn't choose it for the views. He chose it for the money. And why he did, you know, we don't know.
You know, people assume that all celebrities are incredibly wealthy and he's valued at $120 million. And for the average American or average UK resident, that may seem like a lot of money. But in A-list celebrity world, that money can be burned fast. So it's not unsurprising that an actor would take a role or a gig for the money.
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