Robert De Niro Talks Anti-Vaccine Doc Pulled From Tribeca on Today: ‘To Shut It Down? There’s No Reason To.’

Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal visited Today this morning to discuss, in part, the festival’s decision to remove Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, a documentary about the medically discredited link between vaccines and autism, from the festival’s lineup. According to Rosenthal, the decision came after other festival participants threatened to pull their work in protest. De Niro, meanwhile, doubled down on his support for the film, directed by former doctor Andrew Wakefield. “I think the movie is something that people should see,” the actor explained. “There’s a lot of information about things that are happening with the CDC, the pharmaceutical companies, there’s a lot of things that are not said. I, as a parent of a child who has autism, I’m concerned. And I want to know the truth. I’m not anti-vaccine. I want safe vaccines.” When asked about his own experience, De Niro says his wife observed what she believed to be a rapid change in their teenage son, who is autistic, after being vaccinated. The actor also recommended another documentary Trace Amounts, which draws similar conclusions about vaccines. As for the actual science of the films in question, De Niro concluded, bafflingly, “It’s much more complicated than that. There is a link.”

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Robert De Niro Talks Anti-Vax Doc on Today