Zachary Levi has come under fire from members of the Broadway community after a bizarre online rant in which he uses his former co-star Gavin Creel’s death to promote a conspiracy theory about COVID-19 vaccines.
In a video posted Monday to Instagram, the “Shazam!” actor said he believed Creel, with whom he co-starred in the 2016 revival of “She Loves Me” on Broadway, “would still be alive” if he hadn’t gotten vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I know that this is going to offend some people and make some people mad, and I wish it didn’t,” Levi said. “So, a few weeks ago, my friend Gavin Creel died. He was 48 years old, and he was one of the healthiest people I knew.”
After suggesting that the COVID-19 vaccines were “forced on the American public” despite known side effects including “turbo cancers,” he added: “Without a shadow of a doubt, I believe that Gavin Creel would be alive right now — right fucking now — he would still be alive if that stuff didn’t get put into his body.”
Creel, beloved by theater fans for his performances in “Hello, Dolly!” and “Into the Woods,” among other musicals, died of a rare and aggressive form of cancer last month. The actor’s partner, Alex Temple Ward, told The New York Times in a statement that Creel had received the diagnosis in July.
Levi’s video drew a stern rebuke from Tony-winning actor Norbert Leo Butz, best known for portraying Fiyero in the original Broadway production of “Wicked.”
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“So incredibly disappointed you would politicize Gavin’s death. Really tried to give you the benefit here,” Butz wrote. “Made it halfway through, which was hard as hell. But Was utterly heartbroken, as he would have been, that you felt the need to use his life and legacy to promote this awful platform.”
Actor and dancer Chaz Wolcott felt similarly, writing: “It is harmful, dangerous and reprehensible that you would weaponize someone’s death of cancer to further your agenda about vaccines. It’s out of control ― and I am appalled at you sharing that level of unproven disinformation with your followers. You should be ashamed.”
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In recent years, Levi has repeatedly sparked controversy with his conservative views.
The outspoken supporter of former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president last month, calling the move “career suicide.”
Days later, The Hollywood Reporter published an article which speculated that Levi’s drift toward the right began after his recent films, “Harold and the Purple Crayon” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” underperformed at the box office.
“When he was cast as Shazam, it was literally his dream,” an insider told the outlet. “He thought this was his ticket to being The Rock or Chris Evans. But it didn’t happen for him, and he’s bitter about that.”