UPDATE: On Saturday, Robert De Niro decided to pull "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe" from the Tribeca Film Festival.
PREVIOUSLY: Robert De Niro has issued a statement for those who don't think the controversial anti-vaccination documentary "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe" should be shown at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival.
De Niro, a co-founder of the festival, released a statement Friday on the film festival's Facebook page in which he explains why he wants "Vaxxed" to be shown.
Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening "Vaxxed." I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue.
The doc, directed by disgraced anti-vax doctor Andrew Wakefield, has received a lot of pushback for its factually incorrect message that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention organized a conspiracy to cover up rising autism diagnosis rates allegedly caused by childhood vaccinations.
There are currently no credible studies that corroborate these claims. In fact, the idea that vaccines can cause autism has been soundly discredited, time and again, by large, well-designed studies that show no link between vaccines and autism.
To read more about the inaccuracies surrounding this film, check out HuffPost's explainer here.
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