By Jack Phillips March 2, 2023 | The Epoch Times
A growing number of actors and celebrities have called for an end to COVID-19-related mandates, with “Cheers” star Woody Harrelson saying that the United States is “not a free country” because of such measures.
During a recent New York Times interview, Harrelson was asked what he thinks is “absurd about the COVID protocols.” He replied, “The fact that they’re still going on.”
“I don’t think that anybody should have the right to demand that you’re forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask, and forced to get vaccinated three years on,” the “True Detective” actor said.
“I’m just like, let’s be done with this nonsense,” Harrelson said, remarking that “it’s not fair to the crews. I don’t have to wear the mask. Why should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How’s that not up to the individual? I shouldn’t be talking about this [expletive].”
“I don’t feel that we should have forced testing, forced masking, and forced vaccination,” Harrelson added. “That’s not a free country,” he warned, saying that “really I’m talking about the crew. Because I can get out of wearing a mask. I can test less. I’m not in the same position they’re in, but it’s wrong. It’s three years. Stop.”
Woody Harrelson speaks on stage during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 13th Annual Governors Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)
Harrelson’s interview with the NY Times comes after he delivered an opening monologue during “Saturday Night Live” last week in which he similarly criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pharmaceutical companies. After that, a number of mainstream media outlets published headlines this week that accused Harrelson of spreading “conspiracy theories.”