Tribeca pulls anti-vaccination doc Vaxxed from schedule

‘We do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for,’ Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro said in a statement

by Christopher Rosen

Posted March 26 2016 — 7:07 PM EDT

One day after Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro defended the organization’s decision to include controversial anti-vaccination documentary Vaxxed in this year’s lineup, the film has been pulled from the schedule.

“My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family,” De Niro said in a statement released late Saturday afternoon. “But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for.”

De Niro added, “The Festival doesn’t seek to avoid or shy away from controversy. However, we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program. We have decided to remove it from our schedule.”

Directed by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who erroneously claimed vaccines caused autism and was later stripped of his medical license, Vaxxed was added to the Tribeca lineup this week – a decision that was roundly criticized online.

In response to the outcry, De Niro issued a statement Friday afternoon defending the choice to screen Vaxxed at the New York-set fest.

“Grace [Hightower, De Niro’s wife] 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,” De Niro said. “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.”

Wakefield’s findings, which were first published in British medical journal The Lancet in 1998, were proven false and discredited. The controversy around his career was not mentioned on the Tribeca Film Festival website in the entry for Vaxxed. The page has since been removed.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/26/tribeca-film-festival-vaxxed-pulled-schedule

Truthkings has learned that Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO, AOBNMM, ABIHM, spoke to Andrew Wakefield shortly after Tribeca announced the removal of his film, Vaxxed: From Cover Up to Catastrophe. Tenpenny reported that Wakefield was “notably upset” with the news. He is gathering his team to discuss the matter and formulate a statement regarding not only the situation, but future plans for the film. He is also expected to reach out to Tribeca, including De Niro, in an attempt to understand what led to this abrupt move.

We expect him to release a statement shortly and will stay on top of the matter.

From our perspective and initial shock and reaction, Tribeca completely folded due to pressure from sponsorships. There have been numerous articles blasting the decision to show the film and attempts to boycott corporate sponsorships of the festival and pressures from other movies at the festival to pull their movies. De Niro’s statement claims they had consultation from a “scientific community,” which is conveniently anonymous. Most likely, this “scientific community” is sponsorships and potentially the influence of Big Pharma, which continues its undefeated streak at silencing any opposition. Two statements were released this week, one from De Niro and one from Tribeca, both of which focused heavily on the idea that Tribeca, as a film festival, was open to allowing for different perspectives. However, those “perspectives” must be unchallenged by advertisers, apparently.

After Tribeca’s original statement below, how could this have possibly happened?

“Tribeca, as most film festivals, are about dialogue and discussion. Over the years we have presented many films from opposing sides of an issue. We are a forum, not a judge.”

They, De Niro included, folded like a lawn chair when the pressure was on. Where was support for De Niro from his Hollywood Elite? This move is inexcusable and this fight is far from over.

https://truthkings.com/andrew-wakefield-to-release-statement/#