Queen guitarist Brian May calls Eric Clapton a 'fruitcake' for anti-vax comments

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Queen guitarist Brian May admires Eric Clapton for his musical accomplishments, but he's got some feelings about Clapton and his anti-vax stance.

After it was announced that the U.K. planned to implement a "vaccine passport" for certain events, Clapton said he wouldn't play on any stage where there was a "discriminated audience present" and "unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show." In a new interview with The Independent, May — who is strongly pro-vax — called out anti-vaxxers, including Clapton, for their ignorance.

I love Eric Clapton, he's my hero, but he has very different views from me in many ways. He's a person who thinks it's OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man," May told the publication. "Anti-vax people, I'm sorry, I think they're fruitcakes. There's plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole they've been very safe. There's always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I'm sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me."

Eric Clapton attends a press conference to promote the film
Eric Clapton attends a press conference to promote the film "Life in 12 Bars" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Canada, September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Fred Thornhill

Despite the Delta variant of the coronavirus making a deadly surge, everyone in the entertainment industry is doing their best to get back to normal as quickly as they can — Netflix has put vaccine mandate measures into place for its productions, and Disney Parks has suggested that all in-person employees get vaccinated.

The measures in the U.K. are only one workaround being put into place; recently, Live Nation announced that it would let their touring artists choose if they want to require either a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination.

Related content: