Jim Carrey went too far when he posted a picture of an autistic boy named Alex Echols on Twitter without the consent of the family. He also falsely used the photo to show how vaccinations can cause autism, when this wasn’t the case for that boy.
In June, Carrey went on Twitter to rant about the mandatory vaccination bill that California Gov. Jerry Brown signed. The bill was created after a measles outbreak in December.
The outraged comedian wrote on Twitter, “California Gov says yes to poisoning more children with mercury and aluminum in mandatory vaccines. This corporate fascist must be stopped.”
Then, he tweeted a photo of 14-year-old Alex Echols with the idea that vaccinations caused his autism. Yet Karen Echols, Alex’s mother, clarifies that vaccines did not cause his severe autism.
Alex’s disease is purely genetic and he was diagnosed when he was six weeks old.
The Register Guard informs that Echols filed a complaint with Twitter, and the site immediately took the photo down.
“I’m not sure why he didn’t just ask to use a photo of a child whose parents claimed was injured by vaccines,” said Karen.
On Thursday Carrey tweeted an apology to the family. “I’d like to apologize to the Echols family and other for posting a pic of their kids w/o permission. I didn’t mean to cause them distress.”
Karen appreciated the apology and agrees with Carrey that it isn’t a bad idea to find a “greener” vaccine. Still she agrees that vaccines did not cause her son’s disorder.
“Where we stand now, the science is pretty clear that they are overall safe, effective and do not cause autism.”
Credit: RogerWong/INFphoto.com
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