With both Aaron Rodgers and Mayim Bialik being exposed as woo-spouting vaccine skeptics, I feel like Dr. Oz’ stock can only be rising. . .
The news seems to indicate that Rodgers actively lied and actively endangered teammates and everyone else he came into contact with.
I’m not seeing information indicating that Bialik has equivalent horrors on her record. (Though, granted, I’m no fan of her stupid commercials—but it doesn’t rise to the same level.)
Bialik has gotten a lot better as host. I don’t really give a shit about her position on a vaccine, I don’t have to get near her.
Oh, Puh-leeze! Mayim’s vaccine positions have been merely semi-woo related. And even if she endorsed full-blown woo, that wouldn’t raise Oz’ stock.
The only stock Oz has is the cattle he raises to supply his bullshit.
I DO give a shit about her stance on vaccines and her views on sexual harassment even though I won’t get near her. Rightly or wrongly, hosting Jeopardy! carries with it a certain intellectual cache , and the fame helps her sell her dangerous views, views that influence others who DO get near me. And again, it’s not just anti-vaxx crap, it’s her blaming of Weinstein victims (She claimed SHE was never assaulted because she dressed conservatively and didn’t flirt, a view she was forced to walk back, probably insincerely) and a whole raft of bizarre medical theories.
[pretentiously]
“Sorry; we were looking for ‘cachet’.”
[/pretentiously]
Darn. I swear I included the “T”. I must have ham-handedly knocked it off. It would be just like me.
I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Somewhat off-topic, but when she took over as (semi-)permanent host, it seemed to me that there were a lot of light reflections off her glasses. It’s much less now; I wonder if she changed glasses or if they just repositioned the lights.
Did you feel the same when Alex Trebek was hawking insurance?
Oh, was the insurance a scam? Checks Nope. No it wasn’t. Did Trebeck, like Bialik, hawk and untested product she claims promotes brain health even as the manufacturer was forced to withdraw false claims about the product and pony up $8 million when it was sued for false advertising? Again, no. Was Alec Trebek’s status as Jeopardy! host helping him convince millions of people not to get vaccinated and/or not get their children vaccinated on time? Did he blame women who got sexually assaulted by saying wearing revealing clothes and flirting were why they got assaulted? No, and no.
I think it was to be expected anyone would improve with time.
I’m not clear if she’s now the official full time host because apparently Jennings is back next week.
Nobody cares except you.
Not that I know of, but I do think the insurance company was trying to take advantage of the credibility that Trebek had built up as host of Jeopardy! in order to sell their product. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, but I wouldn’t say it enhances Trebek’s intellectual cachet.
If I made his money I’d never embarrass myself that way. I’d have plenty of other less public ways. I like to think he was being blackmailed.
I care. Not much I can do about it though.
As I recall, it was a bit sleazy, but not legally a scam. I never understood why he did it, making $10 million a year. And if he did want more income, he probably had a lot of offers.
I care as much or more than @nelliebly does and I’m far from alone. As @Dung_Beetle notes, there’s nothing we can do about it except what we are currently doing. Me, I’m speaking out against it in many places and will not watch it while she hosts. I fully understand why you don’t care about her stance, but we don’t have that in common.
As noted, we’re not alone.
The point is that it’s not the same as the problem with Bialik. There’s nothing unethical about someone using their fame to promote a legitimate product they support.
The issue with Bialik is that she’s a neuroscientist, who should know that the product that she decided to promote was snake oil. And, even if she didn’t, she should have disavowed it when she found out. But she hasn’t.
And then there are the other issues, like when, in the face of #MeToo, she wrote an article about how she had never been raped because she dressed modestly and “kept her sexuality to herself.” So, in other words, the reason why those other women got raped was because they were being sluts.
And that’s without getting into the antivax stuff she promotes, despite claiming to not be antivax. You need to “do your research” while citing antivax con artists.
Any attempt to say that Trebek was just as bad is going to wind up being a false equivalency. At worst he hawked a product that people don’t think is a good value.
She was profiled in The New York Times last month, and said that she remains under contract with that company. So she can’t just disavow it.
Just be glad Aaron Rogers didn’t make it.