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Died Suddenly

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For other uses, see Sudden death.

Died Suddenly
Film poster
Directed byMatthew Skow
Produced by
Release date
  • November 21, 2022 (2022-11-21)[1]
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Died Suddenly is a 2022 American anti-vaccination film directed by Matthew Skow and executive-produced by Stew Peters,[2] a far-right and alt-right anti-vaccine activist.[11] It promotes false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and Great Reset conspiracy theories.[17] The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022.[1][16]

On May 30, 2023, Peters released a related film, Final Days, on Twitter.[18]

Background

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Further information: COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy

In late 2021, videos spread on Facebook and Instagram that baselessly claimed 62% of those who receive the mRNA vaccine develop blood clots, and that Pfizer's vaccine creates clots "in a minute or two". The claim originates from Dr. Charles Hoffe, who has made other false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, such as claiming that they are "clearly more dangerous" than the disease itself.[19][20][21] While studies have found possible causal links between the AstraZeneca and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines and a rare clotting disorder known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), there were only 47 confirmed cases out of 15 million participants as of October 2021.[19][20]

Stew Peters is an American far-right media personality who is known for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. He has referred to the vaccine as a "bio-weapon", claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for the deaths of people, and has called for "the people in our government responsible" to be "put on trial and executed". He has been banned from Spotify for his disproven claims.[22][23] Peters has previously produced the anti-vaccine film Watch the Water, which purports that COVID-19 vaccines are derived from snake venom in order to transform people into "a hybrid of Satan".[24]

Narrative

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The main narrative of the film is that the COVID-19 vaccines have supposedly caused otherwise healthy individuals to "die suddenly" en masse from excessive blood clotting caused by the spike protein produced by the mRNA vaccine, as well as an increase of miscarriages and Bell's Palsy.[16] The film includes testimony from embalmers and funeral directors, who discuss the presence of "unusual" blood clots in the dead bodies of people they say had been vaccinated.[13][1][12] Experts quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) previously explained that clots could be caused by anything, such as obesity, smoking and being infected with COVID-19, as well as the bodies being refrigerated.[25][12] It also features interviews with individuals known for promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, such as entrepreneur Steve Kirsch.[14]

The film references conspiracy theories about the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset, suggesting that a 2019 pandemic preparedness exercise was proof that the COVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated by "nefarious global elites".[12] It also promotes claims that Bill Gates is planning to kill off up to 15% of the world's population using vaccines, the evidence for which is a misrepresented video clip of Gates at a TED Talk in 2010 where he states that providing better healthcare to poor countries could slow population growth.[14][12][16] The film also includes a graph showing stillbirths increasing in 2021, relying on the correlation is causation fallacy and falsified data to claim that COVID-19 vaccines caused an increase in miscarriages.[26] The film also falsely claims that adverse events reported by Pfizer from sources such as the Yellow Card system in the UK and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the US prove that the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful for human health.[27]

Promotion

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A two-minute trailer was released on Twitter on October 5, 2022 by a dedicated account for the film, which was created the same day. The trailer went viral on social media.[14] Lead Stories fact-checked the trailer, and found that it relied on out-of-context screenshots and clips that did not demonstrate a link between the COVID-19 vaccines and sudden death.[28][14]

Release

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The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022.[1][16] Within hours of the film's premiere, it went viral on social media, garnering over 7 million views and over 30,000 retweets within a day. It was shared by individuals such as former U.S. congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, websites such as LifeSiteNews, and conspiracy groups.[14] By November 23, it had been viewed over 4 million times on Rumble and 1.5 million times on Twitter.[26] By January 2023, it had been viewed almost 20 million times. It was promoted by Marjorie Taylor Greene and Candace Owens.[29]

In November 2022, the BBC reported that bereaved families had been subjected to online harassment due to the film's release, after social media users falsely connected the sudden deaths of people to mRNA vaccines.[26][30]

Reception

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Jonathan Jarry of the University of McGill wrote that what the film does is "akin to grave-robbing", adding: "It raids online obituaries, with complete disregard for consent or basic journalistic integrity, and stitches a pseudoscientific horror story with the faces of the deceased."[13] David Gorski of Science-Based Medicine referred to the film as a "pseudodocumentary" and a "propaganda film", panning it for its misrepresentation of postmortem blood clotting, extensive use of shock imagery to scare the viewer, and for "[resurrecting] the old antivax conspiracy that vaccines kill".[16] Virologist Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan described the film as anti-vaccine propaganda and "A couple hours of grifters telling lies so you'll give them money. Even half of the people who supposedly 'died suddenly' didn't die!"[31]

The film has received criticism from some members of the anti-vaccine movement,[8] who said that the film was so poorly-researched that it had to be controlled opposition intended to discredit the movement.[32]

Lawsuit

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In April 2024, Peters sued the film's producers, including conspiracy theorist Lauren Witzke, for allegedly acting as its owners, falsely advertising a sequel and collecting donations on his behalf. Witzke, Edward Szall, Matthew Skow, and Nicholas Stumphauzer were identified as the defendants.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Goldhamer, Marisha (November 29, 2022). "'Died Suddenly' film amplifies false Covid-19 vaccine claims". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2023. Peters, a far-right talk show host, regularly promotes conspiracy theories and false claims about the coronavirus and vaccines on his program "The Stew Peters Show."
  2. ^ a b Crimmins, Tricia (April 10, 2024). "Prominent conspiracy theorists are going to court over the rights to the anti-vax film 'Died Suddenly'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  3. ^ Merlan, Anna (April 18, 2022). "COVID Conspiracy Theorists Wreak Havoc With a Story About Snake Venom". Vice. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The documentary, titled Watch the Water, was produced by a far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracy theorist named Stew Peters.
  4. ^ McCarthy, Bill (April 21, 2022). "Radio host Stew Peters' 'Watch the Water' film ridiculously claims COVID-19 is snake venom". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The video is an interview between far-right radio host Stew Peters, who has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories...
  5. ^ Press-Reynolds, Kieran; Graaf, Mia de (October 22, 2022). "Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo went on two far-right conspiracy theory podcasts while pushing anti-vaccine misinformation". Insider. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2022. Stew Peters is one of the most visible figures in the far-right influencer circuit...
  6. ^ Czopek, Madison (November 29, 2022). "'Died Suddenly' repeats debunked COVID-19 vaccine claims, promotes conspiracy theory". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. "Died Suddenly" was produced by Stew Peters, a far-right radio show host with a history of spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
  7. ^ Petrizzo, Zachary (January 31, 2023). "Far-Right Radio Host Ambushes Trump Lawyer Over Kushner". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Butler, Kiera (February 3, 2023). "The Far-Right Bounty Hunter Behind the Explosive Popularity of "Died Suddenly"". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  9. ^ Hutton, Rachel (February 2, 2019). "Minnesota's best-known bounty hunter captures state's most wanted". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  10. ^ Sommer, Will (November 5, 2021). "MAGA's New Shock Jock Is a Bounty Hunter With a Troubled Past". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. ^ [3][4][5][1][6][7][8][9][10]
  12. ^ a b c d e "We fact checked claims made in new anti-vax film Died Suddenly. Here's what we found". ABC News Australia. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Jarry, Jonathan (November 25, 2022). "The Anti-Vaccine Documentary Died Suddenly Wants You to Feel, Not Think". Office for Science and Society. University of McGill. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Carballo-Carbajal, Iria (November 29, 2022). "The film "Died Suddenly" rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines". Science Feedback. Health Feedback. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  15. ^ Cockerell, Isobel (December 2, 2022). "Musk reopens door for Covid disinfo, Chinese trolls blame US for unrest and NZ couple reject blood from vaccinated donors". Coda Media. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Gorski, David (December 5, 2022). "Died Suddenly: A tsunami of antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories". Science-Based Medicine. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  17. ^ [1][12][13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ Haag, Christian; Kristensen, Nikolaj; Faerseth, John (June 5, 2023). "Conspiracy film 'Died Suddenly: Final Days' filled with falsehoods". Logically. Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Fact Check-There is no evidence that mRNA vaccines are linked to blood clots". Reuters. August 27, 2021. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Reuters asked if Hoffe had any printed evidence to support his claims, but he said the results were preliminary and currently unpublished. ... Media reports say that Hoffe has previously made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine (here , here).
  20. ^ a b Kertschner, Tom (October 29, 2021). "No evidence that Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes blood clots". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  21. ^ Lindsay, Bethany (May 11, 2021). "B.C. doctors warned they could face discipline for spreading COVID-19 misinformation". CBC News. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  22. ^ Petrizzo, Zachary (February 3, 2022). "Spotify Booted Far-Right Podcaster Stew Peters Over COVID Lies". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Stew Peters, a right-wing shock jock known for making inflammatory and false claims, including baselessly calling the COVID-19 vaccine a "bio-weapon,"...
  23. ^ Spocchia, Gino (February 23, 2022). "Trump's Truth Social snubbed for censoring radio host's death threats". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  24. ^ McCarthy, Bill (April 21, 2022). "Radio host Stew Peters' 'Watch the Water' film ridiculously claims COVID-19 is snake venom". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  25. ^ "US embalmer baselessly links clots to Covid-19 vaccines". Agence France-Presse. September 19, 2022. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  26. ^ a b c Schraer, Rachel (November 23, 2022). "They died suddenly - then the anti-vax trolling started". BBC News. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022. A graph in the film showing stillbirths shooting up around 2021, making the unsupported suggestion Covid vaccines are causing miscarriages, looks shocking. The film-makers don't provide a source, though. Although the voiceover claims the data is from Waterloo, Canada, genuine data from Ontario, the province Waterloo is part of, has not seen any increase in stillbirths, according to Dr Victoria Male, a reproductive immunologist. In fact, a large study found a "lower (not higher) rate of stillbirth among those vaccinated in pregnancy, compared to those who were not," she said.
  27. ^ Vitelli, Laura (November 25, 2022). "False: The Pfizer 'Cumulative Analysis of Post-authorization Adverse Event Reports' proves that the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous". Logically. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  28. ^ Eavis, Victoria (October 31, 2022). "Fact Check: Movie Trailer Does NOT Demonstrate That COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Sudden Death". Lead Stories. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  29. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (January 26, 2023). "Twitter Has No Answers for #DiedSuddenly". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  30. ^ Muller-Heyndyk, Rachel; Marland, Tori (November 30, 2022). "Double Check: Died Suddenly Fact Check Roundup". Logically. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  31. ^ Loka, Gayathri (November 25, 2022). "False: Google suppressed its search for "died suddenly" to hide information about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines". Logically. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  32. ^ Merlan, Anna (December 8, 2022). "Now the Anti-Vaccine World is Mad at 'Died Suddenly,' The Viral Anti-Vax Documentary". Vice. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
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