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Jenny McCarthy -

Jenny McCarthy could be considered the anti-vax poster girl of Hollywood! The actress' son was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old, and she staunchly believes that the MMR vaccine was the cause.

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Jenny McCarthy -

McCarthy also claimed that her son "recovered" from autism through “biomedical treatment" that involved detoxing his body from metals. Many anti-vaxxers believe that the trace amount of mercury used as a preservative in vaccines is dangerous, although there's no evidence that such a low dose causes any harm whatsoever.

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Jim Carrey -

Jim Carrey was in a relationship with Jenny McCarthy between 2005 and 2010. He has also passionately spoken out on the issue, referring to it as a "growing crisis" and insisting that more research needs to be done into the safety of vaccines for children.

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Jim Carrey -

He called then Californian Governor Jerry Brown a fascist for mandating vaccines for schoolchildren regardless of their parents' religious or philosophical beliefs. The growing number of unvaccinated children in California actually contributed to a measles epidemic in 2014 that led the state to decide that a parent's ability to leave their child unvaccinated should be restricted.

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Jessica Biel - Jessica Biel is a surprising addition to this list, but her stance on child vaccination isn't as straightforward as some. Biel campaigned against a bill that would require more California school children to be vaccinated. Biel stated that she was not anti-vaccine, but that she was concerned that children who should be entitled to medical exemptions from certain vaccines would be bulldozed by the new law.

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Jessica Biel - However, critics said her words mirrored many sentiments commonly touted by anti-vaxxers, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that such vaccine policies are essential to maintaining herd immunity and a healthy population. The public nature of her controversial campaign also created a debate about the danger of prominent celebrities using their platforms to promote unsupported medical advice.

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Lisa Bonet - Actress Lisa Bonet appeared on 'The Donahue Show' in the 1990s to share her fears about vaccines. She stated that they could "introduce alien microorganisms into our children’s blood." She also made (unsubstantiated) claims that these microorganisms could cause terrifying illnesses like “cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, sudden infant death syndrome.”

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Lisa Bonet - Lisa Bonet's beliefs may have evolved since then, but Lenny Kravitz, with whom she shares daughter Zoë Kravitz, is definitively pro-vaccine! Kravitz partnered with UNICEF in 2013 to promote vaccines and prevent unnecessary child deaths.

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Charlie Sheen -

Charlie Sheen felt so strongly about his children being vaccinated that he got into an altercation with his ex-wife, actress Denise Richards, in 2008. Sheen was vehemently opposed to their two daughters getting vaccinated and reportedly enlisted lawyers to prevent Richards proceeding with the inoculation.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a vocal public figure who is widely considered to be a conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine propagandist. He has long promoted the disproven theories that vaccines are linked to food allergies and autism in children. He's also the chairman of the activist group Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization.

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Robert De Niro - Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro partnered with Kennedy Jr. and the Children's Health Defense for a press event in 2017. He has also publicly questioned whether there's a link between vaccines and autism in the past, and promoted the 2016 anti-vax documentary 'Vaxxed,' which has been described as a "pseudoscience propaganda film."

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Selma Blair -

Selma Blair has confirmed that she vaccinated her own children, but also spoke out against the 2015 California vaccine mandate for children along with Jim Carrey. She stated on Twitter that "parental choice is our right. Most vaccinate. Let us choose.”

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Alicia Silverstone -

Alicia Silverstone is known for having quite a few alternative beliefs when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, and health in general. Many of these views are expressed in her book 'The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning.' She has expressed the opinion that tampons may be linked to infertility and that veganism reduces the risk of miscarriage.

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Alicia Silverstone - Silverstone is highly critical of vaccines for children, claiming that there hasn't been a conclusive study about the negative effects they can have (the CDC would disagree). She quoted anecdotal evidence of parents who say their children were "never the same again" after being vaccinated.

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Donald Trump -

Long before Donald Trump became president and gained responsibility for managing the COVID-19 pandemic, he was already expressing anti-vaccine sentiments. In the 2010s, he was speaking out against mandatory vaccines and propagating the idea that vaccines were linked to autism in children. “Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn’t feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases!"

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Cindy Crawford - Cindy Crawford promoted an anti-vax movie called 'Trace Amounts' (2014), which makes a number of outlandish claims including, you guessed it, that vaccines cause autism. Crawford shared the link to the movie on Twitter and said, “Must see film! Do you want to be a part of the solution?”

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Bill Maher - Controversial comedian and talk show host Bill Maher is suspicious of the government and the medical world in equal measure. He has made a number of statements that make his stance on vaccines pretty clear: “Why would you let [the government] be the ones to stick a disease into your arm? I would never get a swine flu vaccine, or any vaccine. I don’t trust the government, especially with my health.”

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Mayim Bialik -

'The Big Bang Theory' star Mayim Bialik is an advocate of the natural parenting movement and has previously said that she has a "non-vaccinating" family. She went on to promote books by an anti-vaccine activist, but later said that her own children were in fact vaccinated.

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M.I.A. -

Rapper M.I.A. made several anti-vax statements during the pandemic, opening up about how upset and frustrated she was that she had to vaccinate her child in order for them to enter the American school system. She also made it clear she was against the COVID-19 vaccine, tweeting, "If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I'm gonna choose death - YALA."

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Juliette Lewis -

In 2015, Juliette Lewis spoke out on the issue of child vaccinations. While denying she was anti-vax, she stated that she just wanted "safe vaccines," perpetuating the narrative that vaccines deemed safe and essential by the world medical community are, in fact, dangerous for children.

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Juliette Lewis -

Rolling Stone suggested that there may be a connection between Scientology and anti-vaccine sentiments, even though the Church has never made a public stance on the issue. They noted that Lewis and several others who don't support vaccines are members of Scientology, and that an outbreak of measles on a Scientology cruise suggested some members may not have had the childhood MMR vaccine.

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Jenna Elfman -

Jenna Elfman of the '90s sitcom 'Dharma & Greg' is another actress affiliated with Scientology who spoke out against the 2015 bill that mandated parents vaccinate their children regardless of their beliefs.

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Danny Masterson -

Danny Masterson, also a Scientologist, came out with a forceful statement on Twitter in regards to the same bill. Although he said he was pro-vaccine, he tweeted, "No way does the govt tell me what to do to my child. disgusting."

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Rob Schneider -

Rob Schneider made some bold statements in 2015 in opposition of the proposed vaccine mandate. “The efficacy of these shots have not been proven. And the toxicity of these things—we’re having more and more side effects. We’re having more and more autism," he claimed. He was subsequently dropped from a series of US State Farm ads he had been involved in.

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Kat Von D -

Famous tattoo artist and makeup mogul Kat Von D announced in 2018 that she would not be vaccinating her first child, Laefar, who was born that year. Her husband, Rafael Reyes, has also shown support for multiple anti-vax films.

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Kristin Cavallari - Kristin Cavallari is another star who bought into the autism theory. She appeared on Fox News and shared her opinion on the matter: “Listen, to each their own,” she said. “I understand both sides of it. I’ve ready too many books about autism and there’s some scary statistics out there. It’s our personal choice.”

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Toni Braxton -

R&B superstar Toni Braxton is another famous parent who believes that vaccination contributed to her son's autism. In her 2014 memoir, she wrote, "Maybe it’s just a coincidence that after my son’s first MMR vaccine, I began to notice changes in him." Later in the book she also said she felt that his autism diagnosis was God's punishment for an abortion she had in the past.

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Kevin Gates -

Rapper Kevin Gates made some pretty bold comments in a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone. He expressed the belief that his children were more advanced than their peers because they hadn't been vaccinated. 

Sources: (Rolling Stone) (SBS) (Billboard) (PopCrush)

See also: Celebrity moms who ate their placenta, and why

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