Advertisement

'Pirates of the Caribbean' writer 'sorry' for likening the N-word to 'anti-vax'

Hollywood screenwriter Terry Rossio (Credit: Getty)
Hollywood screenwriter Terry Rossio (Credit: Getty)

The screenwriter behind movies like Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean has said that he’s sorry for a tweet, in which he likened the offence caused by being called ‘anti-vax’ to that of the N-word.

Oscar nominated Terry Rossio, who wrote all five of the Pirates movies, as well as Disney classic Aladdin, made the comments after Julie Benson, a writer on the series The 100, called for followers to support vaccination participation efforts in the US.

Vaccination in the US, and around the world, has seen a decline in recent years, leading to an increase in cases of diseases like measles.

“My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here),” he wrote.

“Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a n***** and makes as little sense.”

Rossio spelled out the slur in the tweet, however.

After the fellow writer, Julie Benson, slammed Rossio for using the word on her feed, he went on to further argue his point.

The argument then became heated, with another fellow writer, Jeffrey Grubb, writing: “God, this is such a good point. I remember how American founders and citizens enslaved vaccine skeptics for decades. And then, even after freeing them, the government enshrined laws to marginalize vaccine deniers and to deny them wealth and opportunity. That’s just history.”

However, Rossio, in a three-part statement, has now apologised for his remarks.

Two years ago, Variety reported that Rossio had bought up the rights to tell the story of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the discredited doctor who was eventually struck off the UK medical register after he linked the MMR vaccine to autism, on screen.

Read more
Director Nicolas Roeg dies at 90
The Santa Clause was almost MUCH darker
Hugh Jackman says Wolverine will probably return