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Almost half of Americans still aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19, but they’re not all people who can’t take time off work or find childcare in order to get the shot. Sometimes vaccine resistance comes from the very top of the fashion and entertainment industries, as Dutch model and philanthropist Doutzen Kroes proved this week when she expressed her unwillingness to get vaccinated on Instagram. Below, find all the details on the drama that has surfaced around Kroes’s post:
What did Kroes actually say?
On Saturday, Kroes posted a selfie and a lengthy caption on Instagram that read, in part, “Although my hands are shaking while writing this, I feel it is time to choose courage over comfort and speak my truth: I will not be forced to take the shot. I will not be forced to prove my health to participate in society. I will not accept exclusion of people based on their medical status.”
Who reacted to Kroes’s post?
Model Gisele Bündchen commented on Kroes’s post on Tuesday, writing, “I know Doutzen and she is a kind and loving person. I can’t believe the hate being directed at her because she expressed her feelings.” Television personality and former model Yolanda Hadid also commented a heart, recalling certain “anti-vaxxer” accusations within Hadid’s own family.
Is this the first time Kroes has come under fire for her health-related views?
No. In 2020, Kroes posted a video on her YouTube channel detailing her seven-day “liver cleanse,” which included eating a vegan diet for five days, fasting, and drinking apple juice, Epsom salt and water, and a grapefruit and oil mix. “From a medical perspective, there’s no rationale or explanation” for the modified diet, Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at Northwell Health, told the New York Post at the time.