Jimmy Fallon, seen here backstage at the new musical based on the film "Almost Famous," recently ... [+]
On the January 5 episode of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon did a little XBB.1.5 song and dance. But many conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers didn’t exactly make a little romance. No, in fact, one Twitter account @SkowMatther actually tweeted, “Jimmy Fallon singing about how XBB.1.5 is the best Covid variant yet.. This is 5th Gen Warfare.. You are under attack.” Because Fallon is who you’d send when you want to wage war, right?
That Twitter account was referring to Fallon’s “Tiny Song” about the latest dominant Covid-19 Omicron subvariant. the XBB.1.5, that can be seen in the following video:
Yep, apparently that was the attack, Fallon singing stuff like, “There was Alpha, then Delta, then Omicron next, but this latest variant might be the best. It’s XBB.1.5, another brand of Covid-19 has arrived.” Hmm, that didn’t seem to be much of an attack. All of those things in those four verses are true, except perhaps for XBB.1.5 being the best. It’s actually the opposite of the best since this newish Omicron subvariant is the most transmissible of all the versions of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to date. This latest version of the SARS-CoV-2 may be the “best” for the virus but it ain’t good for humans, as I recently reported for Forbes. So, was that @SkowMatthew Twitter account suggesting that the virus itself had penned the song?
Or maybe the attack was when he continued with, “It’s a new strain, but it isn’t the same. Sounds more like Elon Musk’s kid’s name.” Or perhaps it was when Fallon sang. “Put on your mask when you’re inside a facility. It could be a robot from a “Star Wars” trilogy.” After all, the words “facility” and “trilogy” don’t exactly rhyme since it’s not “facilogy” or “trility.”
Otherwise all of those verses in the song seemed quite accurate. XBB.1.5 does resemble the name of Musk’s son, X Æ A-12 ,a bit. And wearing a face mask while indoors in public can help protect you and others from the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, whether it is XBB.1.5 or some other version.
So what gives @SkowMatthew? Why have you called this Fallon song an attack? What kind of person are you to label a warning that may help save lives and prevent suffering as an attack of truth? Are you even a real person?
Ah, when you look closer at the bio for the @SkowMatthew account, the only thing that it lists is information on the film Died Suddenly. Could this just be an anonymous account made up to push the film that was able to pay the new Musk-led Twitter $8 to get a blue verification check mark ? In November 2022, I covered for Forbes this film, which was essentially like a gigantic frittata of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination rhetoric. The film presented very little real scientific evidence behind its claims that many people have been dying suddenly after getting Covid-19 vaccines. The website for the film even claimed that “the global elite have broadcast their intentions to depopulate the world.”
This Twitter account wasn’t the only one to react strongly to Fallon’s song and dance. For example, there was what was posted by another Twitter account named @NowTheEndBegins, which certainly doesn’t sound conspiracy theory-esque, right? It called Fallon a “FREAK SHOW: robot” in the following tweet: “FREAK SHOW: robot Jimmy Fallon singing the XBB.1.5 COVID Variant theme song, watch as he throws the Illuminati all-seeing eye sign at 0:43. We are being played on every level, get ready for rapture. #VaccineDeath #StoptheShots #COVIDTheater #XBB15 #Dystopian”
Holy smokes. Did Fallon really throw the Illuminati an all-seeing eye sign? Did we all miss that? How dare Fallon blink or move his eyes during The Tonight Show.
Of course, whenever anyone gives any warnings about the dangers of Covid-19 or the value of Covid-19 precautions, you are going to see a bunch of social media accounts, often anonymous ones, claiming that the person is actually a Big Pharma puppet or shill as well. For example, one Twitter account asserted: “What even is this? This isn’t funny nor entertaining - it’s just a puppet dancing on TV for big pharma. Super pathetic @jimmyfallon - there’s no way you’re going to look back on stuff like this down the road and be proud of it. Shameful cringe.” And another account tweeted, “Wow…I can almost see the strings going up to the ceiling. Maybe @AlbertBourla will grant his wish and make him a real boy someday.” Not surprisingly, these accounts were missing that tiny, little thing that’s needed when making such claims: actual, real evidence.
These days, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Fallon got such a strong reaction. Just see what’s happened on Twitter to many of the real public health experts, medical doctors, and scientists who have spent countless hours trying to prevent further death and suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic. They’ve been relentless attacked by what Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, has in an article in PLoS Biology called mounting anti-science aggression in the U.S. Yes, nowadays, there seems to be concerted efforts to suppress scientific messages. Or any message that contains any real science about the dangers of Covid-19 and the value of Covid-19 precautions such as face masks and vaccines. Heck, even something as innocent as a tiny song and dance about the latest Covid-19 subvariant will get your typical anti-vaccination and conspiracy theory-spreading song and dance as reactions.
