The 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' actress shares pictures from a rally to protest vaccine mandates in Washington D.C. she attended as she declares that she is 'pro choice.'
- Jan 28, 2022
AceShowbiz - Evangeline Lilly has divided Marvel fans after she spoke out against vaccine mandates. The actress, who portrays Hope van Dyne / Wasp in the MCU, has received mixed response after she joined a protest in Washington D.C. this weekend in support of "bodily sovereignty."
The 42-year-old took to her Instagram page on Thursday, January 27 to reveal her participation in the rally. Along with pictures from the protest, she informed her fans and followers, "I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing."
"I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will," she continued to voice her opinion in the caption, "under threat of: violent attack, arrest or detention without trial, loss of employment, homelessness, starvation, loss of education, alienation from loved ones, excommunication from society under any threat whatsoever."
"This is not the way. This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love. I understand the world is in fear, but I don't believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems," she stressed. "I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today."
Lilly also shared a quote by Indian-American entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant which read, "All tyranny begins with the desire to coerce others for the greater good."
In the comment section, many applauded Lilly for speaking out against vaccine mandates. "thank you," one said. Another supported her as saying, "AMEN." Someone exclaimed, "Totally agree!"
"Respect!" another raved over the actress. A fifth user wrote, "This is the way - Thank you." Another noted that it "well said," while someone else praised her, "Love you for this and speaking out to it."
Others on Twitter, meanwhile, slammed Lilly for her stance. "First Letitia Wright, now Evangeline Lilly, if they ever end doing an A-Force film the villain is probably going to be Pfizer at this point," one person snarked.
Another individual also brought up "Black Panther" star Wright, who reportedly refused to get vaccinated. "I find it funny that both Letitia Wright and Evangeline Lilly are supposed to be playing smart characters," the said person remarked.
Another disappointed fan wrote, "evangeline lilly being antivax is super disappointing as someone who is in my third year of medical school and just realised I confused my textbook for a dvd of ant-man," while another cautioned, "Keep Evangeline Lilly away from Paul Rudd at all costs. He hasn't lived for centuries to be taken down by her unwashed and unvaccinated self."
Lilly's fans, however, claimed that she is not anti vaccine despite protesting vaccine mandates. "She's not anti-vax, she's anti-vax mandate. FYI she is vaccinated," one claimed. Another argued, "Evangeline is vaccinated she just doesn't think things should be forced." Someone else similarly said, "she's not against the vaccine. She's against mandates."
Lilly previously came under fire for refusing to adhere to calls for social distancing and self-isolating during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. "Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make choices," she wrote at the time.
The "Lost" alum later apologized for her "dismissive" and "arrogant" statements. "My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria," she said through her social media post. "I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation."
