Tucker Carlson, who has been grasping for relevancy ever since Fox News canceled his juggernaut show Tucker Carlson Tonight in April, is still up to his eye roll-inducing antics over on Twitter. This week, the conservative star was joined by rapper/actor Ice Cube, who appeared on Carlson’s social media show to share why he still hasn’t gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, which has been credited with saving millions of lives against the novel coronavirus.
In 2021, it was reported that Ice Cube left the production of the Sony comedy Oh Hell No, thus losing out on a $9 million payday, because he refused to get vaccinated. In the summer of 2020, Cube also tweeted a joke that the “CUE” for the virus was lethal injection.
On Carlson’s Twitter show this week, the host asked Ice Cube why he hadn’t gotten the vaccine, despite producers’ requests to do so.
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“Yeah, I’m not real good with direct orders,” the 54-year-old rapper replied. “It wasn’t ready. You know, it was a six-month kind of rush job and I didn’t feel safe.”
After Carlson asked if that had been a tough call to make, Cube responded: “No, it wasn’t a tough call. I wanted to be an example for my kids, really make sure they wouldn’t take it either, show them that I want to stand on my convictions and that I was willing to lose $9 million and more, because we’ve probably lost more since then.”
Ice Cube also insisted he never wanted his vaccination status to be made public in the first place. “I never told anyone not to get vaccinated publicly. That was never my message to the world,” he said. “I didn’t even want people to know whether I got vaccinated or not. I was pretty upset that that even came out, because I was just gonna quietly, you know, just not take it and deal with the consequences as they came.”
And when Carlson asked Ice Cube if he knows anyone that has been injured by the vaccine—a question sure to inflame anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories—Cube responded, “Yes I do, and they suffer every day, and it’s hard to watch.”
The rapper did not, however, offer any details about those alleged injuries from the vaccines, which the CDC has deemed “safe and effective” with “rare” side effects.
Carlson, unsurprisingly, still hasn’t gotten vaccinated either. When Ice Cube asked if he’d gotten the jab, the host exclaimed, “Of course not!”
Ice Cube’s interview with Carlson—which took place in a car as the two rode around South Central, Los Angeles—has left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths, and the ex-N.W.A member was promptly dragged on social media for buddying up to the conservative pundit.
