Steven Spielberg Was So Scared Of COVID He Thought He'd Have To Retire
Legendary film director Steven Spielberg recently revealed he was so terrified of COVID that he thought he'd have to retire.
Spielberg told the hilarious revelation to celebrity hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett of the SmartLess podcast.
According to Mediaite, he told them that he was unjustifiably afraid of the virus.
He was “terrified that this was an end of days, an epic level event. And I mean an extinction-level event that was happening to the world."
As a result, he thought he'd only make one more movie, which became The Fablemans.
Apparently, Spielberg told his family that the semi-autobiographical movie would be exactly the one he'd want to leave behind.
“If there was one thing I wanted to leave behind, if I got a chance to make one more movie, what would that movie be? And without even blinking, it was gonna be the story," he said.
Unsurprisingly, the reason for his ridiculously overblown fears and nonsensical sensationalism was none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“I was riveted to the Fauci reports. I was riveted at the time to what all the anchors were saying on the different news outlets and all the experts that were coming out and the denial from that White House that this wasn’t so bad — It was just like a passing flu epidemic,” Spielberg explained.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 13: Steven Spielberg attends the AFI Awards Luncheon at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 13, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Spielberg Bought Into Fear
“I really thought that between the denial and between the battle between politics and science, that we were not heading in a good direction. And this was not gonna end well for many of us. And that just got me thinking about, you know, telling a story that has been on my mind,” he said.
He also believed his fear was justified because the U.S. had lost 250,000 people to COVID when he started writing the story.
Honestly, this story is just sad. It's sad that one of the country's greatest directors is reduced to believing misinformation because his political ideology required it.
It's sad that so many people shared his delusional, fatalistic view of the pandemic. Spielberg was 73 when the pandemic hit, placing him in a higher risk category.
But that doesn't explain thinking that it represented an "extinction-level event." Especially considering he lived through *multiple* pandemics in his lifetime before COVID.
There was a pandemic in 1957-1958, when he was 11-12 years old. Then another one in 1968.
What was the difference with COVID? Unnecessary fear mongering from "experts," the prevalence of social media, an obsession with counting every possible infection, and misattribution of deaths with COVID to those from COVID.
If he really thought COVID was an "extinction-level event" why would he even think he could make a final movie?
Not to mention that the fact he wanted to make The Fablemans as his "final" project.
Hollywood Hypocrisy
It's depressing that Spielberg's become so timid and hypocritical after decades of being an inventive, risk taking director.
Just recently, he apologized for making Jaws and increasing people's fear of sharks.
READ: STEVEN SPIELBERG SHARK APOLOGY IS ONE FOR THE AGES
Like most Hollywood celebrities, he hypocritically lectures people about their climate footprint, while burning over $100k of fuel in just a few months on his private jet.
It's also ironic that he claimed politics interfered with science, when that's exactly what Fauci did. He let political considerations get in the way of accurately informing the public about science.
For years, people have inaccurately believed masks work, in defiance of scientific evidence.
They believed a much higher percentage of people would die or suffer severe consequences as a result of getting COVID. All because Fauci let his political beliefs affect actual science.
Spielberg is the perfect example of Hollywood's disconnect with the rest of the country. Many moved on, while their political ideology remained terrified.
Hopefully he's recovered enough from his unbelievably hyperbolic fear to continue making movies.