Howard Stern has called on the family of late musician Meat Loaf to address anti-vaxx sentiment.
While the rock artist’s cause of death has not been confirmed, several media outlets have reported that the 74-year-old was seriously ill with Covid. It is not known whether Meat Loaf, who died on 20 January, had been vaccinated.
In May last year, he shared a link to the anti-lockdown song “Stand & Deliver” by Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, and also expressed his own anti-lockdown stance in interviews.
“Poor Meat Loaf got sucked into some weird f***ing cult,” Stern said on his SiriusXM radio show, perVariety. “And somehow really believed that – he made a statement, ‘I’d rather die a free man than take that vaccine.’ And now he’s dead!”
He continued: “I wish the family would come forward and say, ‘Ya know, when Meat Loaf was laying there in the hospital and he couldn’t breathe, he said, ‘I made a mistake. I should have taken the vaccine.’ Like all these anti-vaxxers, they all say, ‘I made a mistake.'”
Stern has made a number of comments against anti-vaxxers in recent months, including last week’s declaration that hospitals should be closed to anyone who contracts Covid but has not been vaccinated.
“In my America, all hospitals would be closed to you,” he said. “You’re going to go home and die. That is what you should get. Absolutely.”
The Independent has contacted Meat Loaf’s estate for comment.
Meat Loaf’s daughter Amanda Aday reflected this week on how her late father was still joking around in the hours before his death.
The 41-year-old actor told People: “As soon as we could, we just went to his bedside at the hospital and just sat with him and held his hand.”
She said that the musician was in good spirits. “He flipped a couple of us off, which is very dad, very appropriate. That’s a good sign. He’s there. He’s joking.”
