Died Suddenly

Last updated

Died Suddenly
DiedSuddenly poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byMatthew Skow
Produced by
Release date
  • November 21, 2022 (2022-11-21) [1]
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Died Suddenly is a 2022 American anti-vaccination film directed by Matthew Skow and executive-produced by Stew Peters, [2] a far-right and alt-right anti-vaccine activist. [11] It promotes false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and Great Reset conspiracy theories. [17] The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022. [1] [16]

Contents

On May 30, 2023, Peters released a related film, Final Days , on Twitter. [18]

Background

In late 2021, videos spread on Facebook and Instagram that baselessly claimed 62% of those who receive the mRNA vaccine develop blood clots, and that Pfizer's vaccine creates clots "in a minute or two". The claim originates from Dr. Charles Hoffe, who has made other false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, such as claiming that they are "clearly more dangerous" than the disease itself. [19] [20] [21] While studies have found possible causal links between the AstraZeneca and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines and a rare clotting disorder known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), there were only 47 confirmed cases out of 15 million participants as of October 2021. [19] [20]

Stew Peters is an American far-right media personality who is known for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. He has referred to the vaccine as a "bio-weapon", claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for the deaths of people, and has called for "the people in our government responsible" to be "put on trial and executed". He has been banned from Spotify for his disproven claims. [22] [23] Peters has previously produced the anti-vaccine film Watch the Water, which purports that COVID-19 vaccines are derived from snake venom in order to transform people into "a hybrid of Satan". [24]

Narrative

The main narrative of the film is that the COVID-19 vaccines have supposedly caused otherwise healthy individuals to "die suddenly" en masse from excessive blood clotting caused by the spike protein produced by the mRNA vaccine, as well as an increase of miscarriages and Bell's Palsy. [16] The film includes testimony from embalmers and funeral directors, who discuss the presence of "unusual" blood clots in the dead bodies of people they say had been vaccinated. [13] [1] [12] Experts quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) previously explained that clots could be caused by anything, such as obesity, smoking and being infected with COVID-19, as well as the bodies being refrigerated. [25] [12] It also features interviews with individuals known for promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, such as entrepreneur Steve Kirsch. [14]

The film references conspiracy theories about the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset, suggesting that a 2019 pandemic preparedness exercise was proof that the COVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated by "nefarious global elites". [12] It also promotes claims that Bill Gates is planning to kill off up to 15% of the world's population using vaccines, the evidence for which is a misrepresented video clip of Gates at a TED Talk in 2010 where he states that providing better healthcare to poor countries could slow population growth. [14] [12] [16] The film also includes a graph showing stillbirths increasing in 2021, relying on the correlation is causation fallacy and falsified data to claim that COVID-19 vaccines caused an increase in miscarriages. [26] The film also falsely claims that adverse events reported by Pfizer from sources such as the Yellow Card system in the UK and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the US prove that the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful for human health. [27]

Promotion

A two-minute trailer was released on Twitter on October 5, 2022 by a dedicated account for the film, which was created the same day. The trailer went viral on social media. [14] Lead Stories fact-checked the trailer, and found that it relied on out-of-context screenshots and clips that did not demonstrate a link between the COVID-19 vaccines and sudden death. [28] [14]

Release

The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022. [1] [16] Within hours of the film's premiere, it went viral on social media, garnering over 7 million views and over 30,000 retweets within a day. It was shared by individuals such as former U.S. congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, websites such as LifeSiteNews , and conspiracy groups. [14] By November 23, it had been viewed over 4 million times on Rumble and 1.5 million times on Twitter. [26] By January 2023, it had been viewed almost 20 million times. It was promoted by Marjorie Taylor Greene and Candace Owens. [29]

In November 2022, the BBC reported that bereaved families had been subjected to online harassment due to the film's release, after social media users falsely connected the sudden deaths of people to mRNA vaccines. [26] [30]

Reception

Jonathan Jarry of the University of McGill wrote that what the film does is "akin to grave-robbing", adding: "It raids online obituaries, with complete disregard for consent or basic journalistic integrity, and stitches a pseudoscientific horror story with the faces of the deceased." [13] David Gorski of Science-Based Medicine referred to the film as a "pseudodocumentary" and a "propaganda film", panning it for its misrepresentation of postmortem blood clotting, extensive use of shock imagery to scare the viewer, and for "[resurrecting] the old antivax conspiracy that vaccines kill". [16] Virologist Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan described the film as anti-vaccine propaganda and "A couple hours of grifters telling lies so you'll give them money. Even half of the people who supposedly 'died suddenly' didn't die!" [31]

The film has received criticism from some members of the anti-vaccine movement, [8] who said that the film was so poorly-researched that it had to be controlled opposition intended to discredit the movement. [32]

Lawsuit

In April 2024, Peters sued the film's producers, including conspiracy theorist Lauren Witzke, for allegedly acting as its owners, falsely advertising a sequel and collecting donations on his behalf. Witzke, Edward Szall, Matthew Skow, and Nicholas Stumphauzer were identified as the defendants. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

New Tang Dynasty Television is a multilingual American television broadcaster founded by adherents of the Falun Gong new religious movement and based in New York City. The station was founded in 2001 as a Chinese-language broadcaster, but has since expanded its language offerings; in July 2020, it launched its 24/7 English channel which now broadcasts nationwide in the U.S. and UK. It is under the Epoch Media Group, a consortium which also includes the newspaper The Epoch Times. The Epoch Media Group's news sites and YouTube channels have promoted conspiracy theories such as QAnon, anti-vaccine misinformation and false claims of fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vernon Coleman</span> British author and conspiracy theorist

Vernon Edward Coleman is an English conspiracy theorist and writer, who writes on topics related to human health, politics and animal welfare. He was formerly a general practitioner (GP) and newspaper columnist. Coleman's medical claims have been widely discredited and described as pseudoscientific conspiracy theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherri Tenpenny</span> American anti-vaccination activist

Sherri J. Tenpenny is an American anti-vaccination activist and conspiracy theorist who promulgates disproven hypotheses that vaccines cause autism. An osteopathic physician by training, she is the author of four books opposing vaccination. In 2023 the State Medical Board of Ohio indefinitely suspended Tenpenny's medical license for failure to participate in its investigations. Her license was restored in 2024.

<i>LifeSiteNews</i> Far-right, anti-abortion advocacy and news publication

LifeSiteNews is a Canadian Catholic conservative anti-abortion advocacy website and news publication. LifeSiteNews has published misleading information and conspiracy theories, and in 2021, was banned from some social media platforms for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Bigtree</span> American television producer and anti-vaccination activist

Del Matthew Bigtree is an American television and film producer who is the CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network. He produced the film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, based on the discredited opinions of Andrew Wakefield, and alleges an unsubstantiated connection between vaccines and autism. His frequent public speaking engagements and an influx of funding in 2017 have made Bigtree, who has no medical training, one of the most prominent voices in the anti-vaccination movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 misinformation</span> False or misleading virus information

False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant.

The Stop Mandatory Vaccination website and associated Facebook group are some of the major hubs of the American anti-vaccination movement. It was established by anti-vaccination activist Larry Cook in 2015.

Plandemic is a trilogy of conspiracy theory films produced by Mikki Willis, promoting misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. They feature Judy Mikovits, a discredited American researcher and prominent anti-vaccine activist. The first video, Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, was released on May 4, 2020, under Willis' production company Elevate Films. The second film, Plandemic Indoctornation, which includes more interviewees, was released on August 18 by Brian Rose's distributor of conspiracy theory related films, London Real. Later on June 3, 2023, Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening was released on The Highwire, a website devoted to conspiracy theories run by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Shemirani</span> British conspiracy theorist

Kay Allison "Kate" Shemirani is a British conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine activist and former nurse who lost her licence to practise in 2020 for misconduct. She is best known for promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, vaccinations and 5G technology. Shemirani has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as a leading figure of a movement that includes conspiracy theorists as well as far-left and far-right activists.

Misinformation related to immunization and the use of vaccines circulates in mass media and social media in spite of the fact that there is no serious hesitancy or debate within mainstream medical and scientific circles about the benefits of vaccination. Unsubstantiated safety concerns related to vaccines are often presented on the internet as being scientific information. A large proportion of internet sources on the topic are mostly inaccurate which can lead people searching for information to form misconceptions relating to vaccines.

Kevin D. Jenkins is an American social media influencer and the CEO of Urban Global Health Alliance. He has been identified as a major promoter of misinformation about vaccines, especially targeting the African-American population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy</span> Misinformation regarding the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the resulting hesitancy towards it

In many countries, the dissemination of varied claims and perspectives regarding COVID-19 vaccines has sparked widespread public discussion. These include concerns about potential side effects, differing interpretations of how the immune system responds to vaccination, and debates over the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, stories such as COVID-19 being linked to 5G technology and other debated information have also emerged. This spread of information, including content from anti-vaccination advocates, may have influenced people's attitudes towards vaccination. In response, governments and private organizations around the world have introduced measures to encourage or mandate vaccination, such as lotteries, mandates, and free entry to events. These measures have further fueled debates about their legality and effectiveness.

John Lorimer Campbell is an English YouTuber and retired nurse educator known for his videos about the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the videos received praise, but they later diverged into COVID-19 misinformation. He has been criticised for suggesting COVID-19 deaths have been over-counted, repeating false claims about the use of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, and providing misleading commentary about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. As of March 2024, his YouTube channel had 3 million subscribers and over 750 million views.

Stewart Peters is an American alt-right internet personality, white nationalist, political commentator, Holocaust denier, and conspiracy theorist. He is known for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories, as well as anti-LGBTQ, antisemitic, and white supremacist beliefs.

This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.

The Light is a self-published, monthly British far-right and conspiracy theory newspaper founded by Darren Scott Nesbitt on 27 September 2020, which claims the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax. The paper has a sister publication, named The Irish Light, which was launched in Ireland by Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters. A free Australian paper, The Light Australia, started around June 2023 and is linked to The Light.

<i>The Exposé</i> British conspiracist website

The Exposé is a British conspiracist and fake news website created in 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker. It is known for publishing COVID-19 and anti-vaccine misinformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disclose.tv</span> German disinformation outlet

Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives.

Chantelle Baker is a New Zealand social media influencer and conservative activist who is the daughter of former New Conservative Party leader Leighton Baker. In 2022, she attracted domestic media attention for her involvement in the 2022 Wellington protest and for her promotion of anti-COVID vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Leading Report is an American fake news website and Twitter account that describes itself as a "leading source for breaking news". It is known for promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories, including about United States politics and COVID-19.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goldhamer, Marisha (November 29, 2022). "'Died Suddenly' film amplifies false Covid-19 vaccine claims". Agence France-Presse . Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2023. Peters, a far-right talk show host, regularly promotes conspiracy theories and false claims about the coronavirus and vaccines on his program "The Stew Peters Show."
  2. 1 2 Crimmins, Tricia (April 10, 2024). "Prominent conspiracy theorists are going to court over the rights to the anti-vax film 'Died Suddenly'". The Daily Dot . Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  3. ↑ Merlan, Anna (April 18, 2022). "COVID Conspiracy Theorists Wreak Havoc With a Story About Snake Venom". Vice . Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The documentary, titled Watch the Water, was produced by a far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracy theorist named Stew Peters.
  4. ↑ McCarthy, Bill (April 21, 2022). "Radio host Stew Peters' 'Watch the Water' film ridiculously claims COVID-19 is snake venom". Poynter Institute . Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The video is an interview between far-right radio host Stew Peters, who has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories...
  5. ↑ Press-Reynolds, Kieran; Graaf, Mia de (October 22, 2022). "Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo went on two far-right conspiracy theory podcasts while pushing anti-vaccine misinformation". Insider . Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2022. Stew Peters is one of the most visible figures in the far-right influencer circuit...
  6. ↑ Czopek, Madison (November 29, 2022). "'Died Suddenly' repeats debunked COVID-19 vaccine claims, promotes conspiracy theory". PolitiFact . Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. "Died Suddenly" was produced by Stew Peters, a far-right radio show host with a history of spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
  7. ↑ Petrizzo, Zachary (January 31, 2023). "Far-Right Radio Host Ambushes Trump Lawyer Over Kushner". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Butler, Kiera (February 3, 2023). "The Far-Right Bounty Hunter Behind the Explosive Popularity of "Died Suddenly"". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  9. ↑ Hutton, Rachel (February 2, 2019). "Minnesota's best-known bounty hunter captures state's most wanted". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ Sommer, Will (November 5, 2021). "MAGA's New Shock Jock Is a Bounty Hunter With a Troubled Past". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ [3] [4] [5] [1] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "We fact checked claims made in new anti-vax film Died Suddenly. Here's what we found". ABC News Australia . December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 Jarry, Jonathan (November 25, 2022). "The Anti-Vaccine Documentary Died Suddenly Wants You to Feel, Not Think". Office for Science and Society. University of McGill. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Carballo-Carbajal, Iria (November 29, 2022). "The film "Died Suddenly" rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines". Science Feedback. Health Feedback. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ Cockerell, Isobel (December 2, 2022). "Musk reopens door for Covid disinfo, Chinese trolls blame US for unrest and NZ couple reject blood from vaccinated donors". Coda Media . Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gorski, David (December 5, 2022). "Died Suddenly: A tsunami of antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories". Science-Based Medicine . Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ [1] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
  18. ↑ Haag, Christian; Kristensen, Nikolaj; Faerseth, John (June 5, 2023). "Conspiracy film 'Died Suddenly: Final Days' filled with falsehoods". Logically . Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Fact Check-There is no evidence that mRNA vaccines are linked to blood clots". Reuters . August 27, 2021. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Reuters asked if Hoffe had any printed evidence to support his claims, but he said the results were preliminary and currently unpublished. ... Media reports say that Hoffe has previously made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine (here , here).
  20. 1 2 Kertschner, Tom (October 29, 2021). "No evidence that Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes blood clots". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  21. ↑ Lindsay, Bethany (May 11, 2021). "B.C. doctors warned they could face discipline for spreading COVID-19 misinformation". CBC News . Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  22. ↑ Petrizzo, Zachary (February 3, 2022). "Spotify Booted Far-Right Podcaster Stew Peters Over COVID Lies". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Stew Peters, a right-wing shock jock known for making inflammatory and false claims, including baselessly calling the COVID-19 vaccine a "bio-weapon,"...
  23. ↑ Spocchia, Gino (February 23, 2022). "Trump's Truth Social snubbed for censoring radio host's death threats". The Independent . Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  24. ↑ McCarthy, Bill (April 21, 2022). "Radio host Stew Peters' 'Watch the Water' film ridiculously claims COVID-19 is snake venom". Poynter Institute . Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  25. ↑ "US embalmer baselessly links clots to Covid-19 vaccines". Agence France-Presse. September 19, 2022. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  26. 1 2 3 Schraer, Rachel (November 23, 2022). "They died suddenly - then the anti-vax trolling started". BBC News . Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022. A graph in the film showing stillbirths shooting up around 2021, making the unsupported suggestion Covid vaccines are causing miscarriages, looks shocking. The film-makers don't provide a source, though. Although the voiceover claims the data is from Waterloo, Canada, genuine data from Ontario, the province Waterloo is part of, has not seen any increase in stillbirths, according to Dr Victoria Male, a reproductive immunologist. In fact, a large study found a "lower (not higher) rate of stillbirth among those vaccinated in pregnancy, compared to those who were not," she said.
  27. ↑ Vitelli, Laura (November 25, 2022). "False: The Pfizer 'Cumulative Analysis of Post-authorization Adverse Event Reports' proves that the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous". Logically . Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  28. ↑ Eavis, Victoria (October 31, 2022). "Fact Check: Movie Trailer Does NOT Demonstrate That COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Sudden Death". Lead Stories . Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  29. ↑ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (January 26, 2023). "Twitter Has No Answers for #DiedSuddenly". The Atlantic . Archived from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  30. ↑ Muller-Heyndyk, Rachel; Marland, Tori (November 30, 2022). "Double Check: Died Suddenly Fact Check Roundup". Logically. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  31. ↑ Loka, Gayathri (November 25, 2022). "False: Google suppressed its search for "died suddenly" to hide information about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines". Logically. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  32. ↑ Merlan, Anna (December 8, 2022). "Now the Anti-Vaccine World is Mad at 'Died Suddenly,' The Viral Anti-Vax Documentary". Vice . Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.