Black Panther star Letitia Wright apologizes for sharing an anti-vax video that sparked an online controversy. The young actress joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016 when she was cast as Shuri, the brilliant sister of T'Challa. Wright appeared on screen for the first time as Shuri two years later, where she received a prominent role in Black Panther. She returned a few months later for a small role in Avengers: Infinity War and appeared briefly in the climax of Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
In this short amount of time, Wright has helped make Shuri one of the fan-favorite characters in the MCU. She outsmarted Bruce Banner in Avengers: Infinity War and some involved with the mega-popular franchise say she's even smarter than Tony Stark. And with her comedic wit, Shuri frequently stole scenes throughout her MCU appearances. This generally made her a beloved character and is one of many reasons why fans have been interested in Shuri taking on a larger role in the franchise. However, Wright recently found herself in the middle of a controversy, which she is now apologizing for.
Late last night, Letitia Wright shared a link to a YouTube video on her Twitter account that questioned the safety of vaccines. Wright originally didn't share any comment on the video beyond the praying hands emoji but began engaging with outraged fans over the contents of the video. Many questioned why she would share a video that was generally anti-vax and harmful, contained false information, and even included some transphobic remarks by the host. This morning, though, Wright deleted her original tweet and issued the following apology.
Wright is far from the only celebrity to find themselves in a controversy due to vaccines for COVID-19 or a general anti-vax stance. The Mandalorian star and former MMA fighter Gina Carano received quite the backlash recently for spreading anti-vax and voter fraud conspiracies online. Carano has yet to reverse course on such stances and brought a large group of fans to call for Disney to fire her from the Star Wars show due to the tweets. Some have already made similar calls for Wright's MCU job to be lost, but that was before the apology.
It is understandable why so many were upset to see Wright share a video that questions the validity of a vaccine for a virus that has killed over 275,000 Americans and more than 1.5 million people around the world. But, at least Wright has since deleted the original tweet/video and apologized for her actions. Whether or not everyone accepts the Black Panther star's apology is another story. Hopefully, this will result in her speaking to qualified professionals on the matter to discuss any concerns she might have, rather than relying on YouTubers with no knowledge on the subject.
Source: Letitia Wright