January Jones and Placenta Pills

Perhaps one of the craziest examples of bad celebrity science beliefs comes from Mad Men star January Jones. She claimed that placenta pills reduce symptoms of post-natal depression. Plus, they provide valuable vitamins and nutrients. Yet this is not really true at all. It is true that other mammals consume their own placenta after birthing their young. However, that does not automatically mean that humans should do the same. There are countless animals that actually eat their own babies, so should we just do everything animals do? These pills essentially offer nothing, but they do contain iron. Which if high enough in your blood, could cause problems if it’s too elevated.

Steven Seagal’s Conspiracy About Shootings

Some may point to this as more of a political issue than a scientific one, but it’s actually both. Steven Seagal has been vocal when it comes to spreading his conspiracy theory that most mass shootings are staged. He actually spoke to Russia’s state-owned propaganda network claiming that while he hates to say it, a lot of the shootings are engineered. How is this bad celebrity science? Seagal is pushing a psychological issue in front of the world here. He is adding fuel to a psychological fire that only makes some people act out. Such as going after the families of victims. We’ve seen this with Alex Jones conspiracies in the past, as an example.

The Katy Perry Conspiracy

While the Avril conspiracy was weird, this conspiracy is downright crazy. It also follows the same bad celebrity science connection that Seagal is connected to. In 2016, a conspiracy went viral that claimed JonBenét Ramsey was not murdered. She actually grew up to become Katy Perry! The death was staged by the Freemasons or Illuminati, you know, shadow organization types. Videos on the theory tried to connect everything from Perry’s eyebrows to song lyrics. Of course, this conspiracy is nonsense. When Ramsey was killed in 1996, Perry was not 6. She was 12 at the time, which is far too old to be connected to Ramsey’s passing.

Roger Moore’s Odd Belief About What Caused Alzheimer’s Disease

Roger Moore is likely best known for playing the role of James Bond from 1973 to 1985. He did a lot of humanitarian work after this but did not appear in any major franchise after Bond. He still acted quite often until he passed away from cancer in 2017. During his life, Moore was known for saying some pretty odd things and having a lot of weird beliefs. Perhaps the dumbest was his stance that foie gras is the cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. Moore began this campaign seemingly from a good place, as he was supporting PETA at the time. Foie gras comes from the livers of a duck or goose, and PETA is all about avoiding harming animals. Therefore, Moore would likely say many things to help that mission.

Wiz Khalifa Thinks 5G Networks Cause COVID

Likely one of the craziest conspiracies that popped up in the last few years has to do with COVID and 5G Networks. Due to the introduction of 5G taking place at roughly the same time as COVID ramped up in America in 2020, people tried to link them. After all, this was not 4G like before people! We’re now at 5G, so clearly, those networks are coming for you! Wiz Khalifa was likely one of the most vocal about this at first. However, it should be noted that he was not the only person pushing bad celebrity science “facts” about COVID. Celebs pushed a lot of BS, and we’ll likely bring up a few more who did so on this list.

Ted Nugent’s Global Warming Nonsense

Let’s be frank here. When you’re so connected to a specific political party or state government, you’re likely going to have some extreme bias. Therefore, it is not shocking that Ted Nugent, a rock musician and ultra-conservative, had some interesting comments about climate change. While the term “climate change” and “global warming” often are used interchangeably, the latter is often used by the extreme right. Nugent pushed the idea that “global warming is a fraud” years ago. Of course, this was also the talking point of Republicans in America. Therefore, he likely was not responsible for bad celebrity science initially but he was spreading the same message. Republicans eventually acknowledged the science that climate change was real, but they do not believe mankind is responsible for it.

Donald Trump… Just Where Do We Begin?

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has spread A LOT of false information about pretty much everything. Of course, he did this well before he became President but once he entered the oval office, he took it up a notch. Perhaps there wasn’t a worse source for COVID conspiracies and medical BS than Trump. He often pushed things that could never work for COVID. Stuff that could actually be harmful, such as Ivermectin and other drugs. He once even claimed that if hospitals just stopped claiming people had COVID, it would probably go away. While some bad celebrity science is head-scratching, that is downright insanity.

Stanley Kubrick Helped America Fake The Moon Landing

Most know Stanley Kubrick from his groundbreaking films, especially 2001: A Space Odyssey. The man knew how to bring space adventure to life, as well as other science fiction concepts. Naturally, that means he must have been able to shoot and fake America’s Moon Landing in some Hollywood studio, right? This has been disproven time and time again. Kubrick is not responsible for spreading this bit of bad celebrity science, he’s sadly just connected to the conspiracy. People cite the way light hit the astronauts as “unlikely,” but we’ve even proven how THAT was possible. Plus, NASA even put reflectors on the Moon during their trip. Which can be seen by telescopes from your home, if you know where to look of course. Simply put, it would have actually been impossible for us to fake the moon landing.

The CIA Used Queen B To Incite A Race War?

While England may have lost their Queen, America still has theirs. Beyoncé is not responsible for this bit of bad celebrity science, but she is connected to a horrible myth. The conspiracy goes that the CIA actually enlisted Beyoncé to write a record for her 2016 album known as Lemonade, which they hoped would start a race war in the United States. The CIA apparently approached her about promoting “urban terrorism” through her music. It would be done through sending political messages via her music during both her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance and “Hold Up” music video. Of course, it is claimed by conspiracy theorists that her lyrics were put in place to push young people into fighting against the police and the establishment. How messed up in the head does one need to be to buy into this?

Joe Rogan Seeming To Give Attention To The Bad

One thing we can respect about Joe Rogan is that he does not like to judge. He will bring people on he agrees with as well as those that he could not disagree with more. Yet he’ll still speak with each person the same way, and hold both accountable. However, while this might be respectable, it also spreads into his popular podcast too. This means he gives everything a fair shake, even the BS stuff. For example, when Rogan was dealing with COVID, he referenced using Ivermectin, monoclonal antibodies, Z-pack antibiotics, and a vitamin drip. It should be noted antibiotics do not treat viruses, and both vitamins and antibodies would take much longer to work than the virus would likely be in his system. Even then, it would not treat or cure a virus. Which was spreading bad celebrity science beliefs.

Kanye West’s Numerous Government Conspiracies

While most know Kanye West for his music, we also know him for the rants and idiocy he has spread over the years. Recently, he was a big Trump Supporter who claimed slavery was “a choice.” In the past though, he claimed that the United States Government “created HIV/AIDS to kill black and gay people.” It should be noted that HIV/AIDS first sparked up in the African/Middle Eastern region. On top of that, the idea that the government could “create” a virus and somehow spread it around has been a fun talking point for conspiracy theorists. Yet this is not actually possible, especially for something like HIV/AIDS. Considering this is not an airborne virus and takes sexual or blood contact to spread. Plus, you cannot spread a virus that only targets specific sects of humans.

Tom Cruise Hates Psychiatry

We find it pretty ironic that Tom Cruise seems to absolutely despise psychiatry. Cruise has long been connected to Scientology, a religion invented by the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Most of what Cruise said in the media several years ago seemed to come right out of Hubbard’s mouth. The Church of Scientology oddly dislikes a lot of science, so they push for their celebrity members to be vocal about this stuff. Thus, Cruise claimed psychiatry was pseudoscience, which is clearly untrue. He also claimed Brooke Shields was irresponsible in taking medication for post-natal depression, a real disorder many women face. Not to mention Tom’s claim that chemical imbalances overall are not real. Cruise’s spreading of bad celebrity science beliefs is legendarily insane, but he has stopped this mostly.

Dr. Oz And The Abundant, No Good, Rotten, Horrible, Bad Celebrity Science Myths

We’re actually not sure where to start here. It should be first noted that Dr. Mehmet Oz is actually a very good cardiologist who at one point was one of the best in his profession in the world. This allowed him to be given the opportunity to host his own medical show, especially since his background wasn’t faked for television but actually true. Yet nearly 70% of the products or concepts Dr. Oz spoke about and touted on his show were complete BS. He consistently promoted health solutions to some of America’s most notable issues, which were unproven and even dangerous. GMO misinformation and miracle weight loss supplements to green coffee extract and numerous pseudoscience, Dr. Oz is a beacon for bad celebrity science information. Avoid this show at all costs!

Jenny McCarthy’s Anti-Vaccine Nonsense

We should first make people aware that Jenny McCarthy is a celebrity mother who does care a lot about her child. Her child is also autistic, and she seemed to notice the presence of his autism after early vaccinations. Therefore, it is understandable that she might want to connect the two as a good mother. Yet autism is not caused by autism and there is no proof of it. Jenny often cites a paper from the 1990s that claimed vaccines can cause autism or other mental disorders. Nearly everyone involved in that paper has since come out against it. McCarthy has no scientific background of her own to prove any link but believes it anyway. However, you have someone like Big Bang Theory star Dr. Mayim Bialik who has a doctorate in neuroscience. Yet she is also anti-vaccine and buys into the BS.

Oprah Winfrey’s Decision To Give Junk Science A Huge Spotlight

We respect Oprah Winfrey for all she has accomplished. From her famous talk show to the success of her television network and multiple other business ventures. If there is one woman that other women can look to as a role model, Oprah is that person. However, Oprah has been a big problem in the world of conspiracy theories because she allows junk science to be promoted on her show or network. She put the spotlight on Dr. Oz and helped to create Dr. Phil. She gave Jenny McCarthy her platform for spreading misinformation on vaccines too. If there is anyone responsible for the spread of bad celebrity science over the years, it’s sadly Oprah.

SOURCES:

United States House of Representatives

National Institutes of Health

Harvard University

Mayo Clinic

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

National Public Radio (NPR)

Public Broadcasting Company (PBS)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Snopes

The Independent

New York Daily News

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