Rolling Stone special report: Inside Eric Clapton’s baffling vaccine skepticism and shocking history of racist statements rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
In recent months, Clapton has become a leading vaccine skeptic. By way of a friend’s social media account, he’s detailed what he called his “disastrous” experience after receiving two AstraZeneca shots (“Propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone,” he wrote).
Clapton recently gave money — and offered his Transporter van — to Jam for Freedom, a group of U.K. musicians that spreads an anti-lockdown message and sings songs with lyrics like “You can stick your poison vaccine up your arse.” rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
At a concert in 1976, Clapton shocked the crowd with statements he later admitted were “full-tilt" racist. He talked about how the influx of immigrants would result in the U.K. “being a colony within 10 years,” before using a series of offensive slurs. rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
Clapton has blamed his rant on his drinking, but some who witnessed it aren’t buying it. “[Drink] just makes you tell the truth too loud at the wrong time to the wrong people,” says Dave Wakeling, who’d go on to found the English Beat and was at the 1976 concert.
Clapton’s views have earned him praise from conservative pundits like Michael Knowles — who once filled in for Rush Limbaugh and tweeted, “Eric Clapton is a much more credible person than Dr. Fauci.” rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
Clapton risked his reputation as he doubled down on his views. “It’s a shame this is the way young Rolling Stone readers are going to read about him for the first time,” says a former associate. “He is one of the greats, and this is how he makes headlines in his dotage.”
Read more here: rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
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