Eric Clapton Funds Anti-Vax Music Group
Photo by Giuseppe Cacace/Getty
Among the COVID-conscious, the name “Eric Clapton” has become a consistent source of eye rolls, groans and general aggravation. The 76-year-old English musician has been outspoken in his skepticism about lockdowns, vaccines and other such common-sense pandemic safety measures. But according to an in-depth Rolling Stone report published Oct. 10, Clapton’s vocal support of the anti-vaccine movement has now become material support.
Cambel McLaughlin, 27, of U.K. “pro-medical choice” music group Jam for Freedom, told RS that, after the group’s car was damaged in an accident, Clapton not only donated £1,000 (roughly $1,360 USD) via GoFundMe to help get them back up and running, but also “offered his family’s white, six-person VW Transporter van as a temporary replacement” for their vehicle, and gave Jam for Freedom an additional, unspecified sum to put towards a new van. (An August tweet by the group confirms that Clapton did, indeed, donate a vehicle to their cause.) To top it off, Clapton expressed an interest in sitting in and performing with the band, and said “something complimentary, along the lines of, ‘Hey, it’s Eric—great work you’re doing,’” McLaughlin claims. A rep for Clapton declined to comment on the outlet’s story, which is, frankly, odd, given how eager he has been to espouse his anti-vaccination and -lockdown views.
The RS story, which you can read in full right here, goes on to analyze whether Clapton has always held such problematic views (spoiler alert: yes), or whether his belief system has gotten worse with time. That analysis includes, for instance, The English Beat founder Dave Wakeling’s recollections of seeing “a clearly inebriated Clapton […] grousing about immigration” during a 1976 Birmingham show, making “vile, racist comments” about how “foreigners” needed to leave the country, and using a pair of racial slurs we won’t reproduce here.