Jamie Lee Curtis bashed for face mask ‘propaganda’ amid COVID spike
Jamie Lee Curtis has been blasted for urging her fans to mask up amid a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases.
The “Halloween” star, 64, took to Instagram Wednesday to share a selfie that showed her wearing a Michael Myers mask over her mouth, before offering up a public service announcement in a caption beneath the snap.
“And we’re BAAAAACCCCKKKK,” the actress wrote. “No, not Michael Myers but masking will be. COVID is on the rise. SO MANY friends now are really sick. BE MINDFUL. WEAR A MASK if required or even if you feel unwell and are out in public spaces.”
However, Curtis was immediately blasted by many of her 5 million followers, with some accusing her of “pushing political propaganda.”
“Nice propaganda post,” one raged. “Election season must be approaching again. DO NOT COMPLY.”
“LMAO – ROUND 2 – just in time for election season,” another cynic snapped. “Hopefully people wised up this time around.”
“The delusion is real in Hollywood,” a third railed. “Don’t even start. We know for a fact that masks did nothing. Vaccines did nothing and yet you are still pushing them. How much is Biden paying you to push this agenda?”
Despite being trolled over the post, Curtis has continued to keep the selfie up on her Instagram page.
The actress hasn’t addressed the controversy surrounding her post, instead pivoting to posting content about the ongoing writer and actors’ strikes in Hollywood.
However, Curtis, who won this year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” isn’t the only one in Tinseltown dusting off her face mask.
Earlier this week, major Hollywood studio Lionsgate brought back mask mandates to nearly half its employees amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Employees must wear a medical grade face covering (surgical mask, KN95 or N95) when indoors except when alone in an office with the door closed, actively eating, actively drinking at their desk or workstation, or if they are the only individual present in a large open workspace,” Sommer McElroy, response manager for Lionsgate/Starz, announced in an internal memo obtained by Deadline.
The mandate will be in effect until further notice for the third and fifth floors of the five-story building at the company’s flagship office in Santa Monica.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week warned about a new, “highly mutated variant” of the coronavirus named BA.2.86 that’s spreading across the globe.
New variants continue to appear — including the latest one dubbed EG.5, or “eris” — but no single strain has emerged as the dominant one.
Recent data from the New York State Department of Health, released Aug. 2, showed that cases jumped by 55% over the prior week, with an average of 824 reported cases per day across the state.
The CDC recorded 10,320 hospital admissions in the US for COVID-19 in the week ending Aug. 5 — a 14.3% spike from the week prior.