(LifeSiteNews) — The liberal media should’ve seen it coming. One day before actor Woody Harrelson called out “the biggest drug cartels in the world” for pushing the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday Night Live (SNL) last weekend, the New York Times published an interview with him where he said coronavirus protocols need to come to an end.
“I don’t think that anybody should have the right to demand that you’re forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask, and forced to get vaccinated three years on. I’m just like, Let’s be done with this nonsense,” Harrelson explained when asked about the film industry’s draconian COVID policies.
“It’s not fair to the crews,” he added. “I don’t have to wear the mask. Why should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How’s that not up to the individual? I shouldn’t be talking about this [expletive]. It makes me angry for the crew.”
The 61-year-old continued: “The anarchist part of me, I don’t feel that we should have forced testing, forced masking and forced vaccination. That’s not a free country. Really, I’m talking about the crew. Because I can get out of wearing a mask. I can test less. I’m not in the same position they’re in, but it’s wrong. It’s three years. Stop.”
Harrelson, who attended college with former Vice President Mike Pence, is known for having a unique political outlook. A long-time advocate for marijuana use, he recently told liberal comedian Bill Maher that “the last people I would trust with my health is Big Pharma and Big Government, because neither one of those strike me as caring entities … they’re all about profit.”
Harrelson’s remarks on SNL sparked widespread backlash from dozens of liberal outlets, including The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and others, who accused him of touting “conspiracy theories,” thereby seeming to confirm his point about the media being owned by Big Pharma. At the same time, Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Harrelson’s monologue was “based.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likewise applauded his comedic approach, tweeting that the “hypnotized audience” missed the joke.
Harrelson was speaking with the Times to promote a new movie he’s in called “Champions” where he plays an out-of-work minor league basketball coach forced to lead a group of mentally challenged athletes.
“I haven’t had much experience with people with disabilities, so I didn’t know what to expect and I’ve got to say, it was probably the most enjoyable experience I ever had making a movie,” he said.
Harrelson further elaborated on his personal beliefs in the interview by stating, “I’m not a pure anarchist, for sure. I’m more of an anarchist/Marxist/capitalist/redneck hippie. But government is always in the hands of big business.”
“In my life I don’t look at authority with great fondness,” he added. “It just feels like the government’s never like, ‘Hey, can I lend you hand?’ … I look at the United States government as fascism with a smiley face.”
COVID-19 had a particularly harmful effect on the movie industry, with one study claiming it lost $32 billion dollars in 2020 alone. Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise was notably caught berating crew members for violating protocols on the set of Mission: Impossible 7. Harrelson lamented to the Times that independent films are being pushed aside in place of “action” and superhero movies.
Although Harrelson, who was raised Presbyterian but now dabbles in “spirituality,” dined with Donald Trump in the early 2000s at the behest of Green Party politician Jesse Ventura, he voted for Joe Biden in 2020. In 2021, he met with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington, D.C. while filming a movie about the Watergate heist. Despite that, Harrelson has described politics as “synchronized swimming” where neither Democrats nor Republicans “take on” the real issues.