Musician Eric Clapton has claimed that he was duped into taking the Covid-19 vaccine which has changed forever and has warned others not to fall for it. Clapton, 76, has also claimed that anyone who has taken the Covid vaccine is a victim of "mass formation hypnosis." The singer took the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab in 2021 and has since become outspoken about his anti-vaccination stance.
On Monday, he again went on the 'Real Music Observer' YouTube channel to discuss how his life has changed since reluctantly after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine in 2021. And he regrets having taking the vaccine.
Floating Misleading Theories
In a new interview for 'The Real Music Observer' YouTube channel, Clapton claimed that subliminal messaging hidden in advertising led people to get the jab. He claimed that he was also duped by the subliminal messaging in pharmaceutical advertising and warned people not to take the vaccine.
Clapton had previously claimed that he had suffered side effects after taking the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and had even released an anti-lockdown single, Stand And Deliver, with Van Morrison in 2020.
"Whatever the memo was, it hadn't reached me," he said, referring to the "mass formation hypnosis" conspiracy theory, which gained traction in 2021 as part of anti-vaccine propaganda. (In related circles, it's also been called "mass formation psychosis.")
Clapton has been trying to push a discredited theory that's made the rounds in anti-vaxx circles, claiming people have been getting the Covid vaccine because of "mass formation hypnosis."
The theory, credited to Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet, specifically points to a sort of mind control that has taken over society, allowing for unscrupulous leaders to easily manipulate populations into, for example, accepting vaccines or wearing face masks.
"Then I started to realize there was really a memo, and a guy, Mattias Desmet [professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University in Belgium], talked about it," Clapton said about he was duped. "And it's great. The theory of mass formation hypnosis. And I could see it then. Once I kind of started to look for it, I saw it everywhere."
"Then I remembered seeing little things on YouTube which were like subliminal advertising. It had been going on for a long time: that thing about 'you will own nothing and you will be happy.' And I thought, 'What's that mean?' And bit by bit, I put a rough kind of jigsaw puzzle together. And that made me even more resolute."
Still in Denial
Clapton, an anti-vaxxer, has become even more vocal after taking the vaccine. And he is still in denial that the vaccine gives a great deal of protection against the coronavirus.
During the interview, the former Cream guitarist also discussed his 2020 anti-lockdown song, "Stand And Deliver," which is a collaboration with Van Morrison. The anti-lockdown song includes the lines: "Is this a sovereign nation / Or just a police state? / You better look out, people / Before it gets too late."
"I joined forces with Van and I got the tip Van was standing up to the measures and I thought, 'why is nobody else doing this' so I contacted him. He said 'I'm just objecting really. But it seems like we're not even allowed to do that. And nobody else is doing it.' He sent me Stand and Deliver, which he'd already recorded. And it was during the process of talking about that with another musician, getting excited and sharing the news I found that nobody wanted to hear that."
"I was mystified, I seemed to be the only person that found it exciting or even appropriate. I'm cut from a cloth where if you tell me I can't do something, I really want to know why."
That said, Clapton had earlier said that he suffered severe side effects after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine and he blamed "propaganda" for duping him into taking the vaccine. Clapton said that he suffers from "peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle."
"I took the first jab of AZ [AstraZeneca] and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days." He also said that he "recovered eventually" but suffered more "disastrous reactions" six weeks later after the second shot.
"My hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again... I should never have gone near the needle. But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone."
Meanwhile, Clapton has been known to throw his support behind other anti-vax activists, including donating more than $1,300 to a British rock group who were slapped with fines for breaching Covid-19 protocol during a show in 2021.
