Jenny McCarthy

[[File:Jenny McCarthy at E3 2006.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Definitely more trustworthy than a doctor.]]{{hatnote|Were you looking for another [[McCarthy]]?}}{{vax}}{{cquote|What if there were a [[Botox|vaccine to prevent wrinkles]]? Then what, Jenny McCarthy?|||Jennifer Gunter<ref>[https://twitter.com/DrJenGunter/status/455456893901627392 (Yes], [http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/03/07/jenny-mccarthy-absolutely-loves-injectin/ someone's a fan of botox.])</ref>}}
'''Jenny McCarthy''' {{lived|1972}} is an [[American]] B-list celebrity who has, since around 2005, become the poster model for the [[vaccine hysteria|anti-vaccination]] movement.  While she rose to fame as a ''[[Pornography|Playboy]]'' model and [[Hollywood|actress]], as well as the ex-girlfriend of popular actor/comedian Jim Carrey, she is now most prominently known (and infamous) for this vigorous opposition to vaccinations, attributing rising [[autism]] rates and other illnesses to the practice. And in turn, rising rates of preventable diseases (such as measles and hepatitis A) have been attributed, in part, to her so-called "activism".

To all appearances, McCarthy is a sincere, hard-working, and very upset mother who has the [[IQ]] of soap and difficulty with coherent lines of thought.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGW4a96GqGc One such example]</ref> This sincere, deeply-held [[fractally wrong|wrongness]] leads to tragedy all round.

In 2012, she sexually assaulted Justin Bieber live on TV, saying in a subsequent interview that she "kind of molested him" and "I want some Bieber fever — and I want a Bieber rash. It’d be like cougar rape."<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2012-nov-19-la-et-mg-mccarthy-kisses-bieber-amas-justin-bieber-story.html Jenny McCarthy kisses Justin Bieber, then explains herself], Christie D’Zurilla, ''LA Times'' 19 November 2012</ref>

In 2013, she gained a substantial audience for her [[crank]] views when she became a host on the popular ABC television show <i>The View</i>, where she contributed with the benefit of her self-proclaimed "degree" in autism from the "University of [[Google]]."<ref>[http://ksj.mit.edu/tracker/2013/07/jenny-mccarthy-join-view "Jenny McCarthy to join "The View"], Knight Science Journalism at MIT</ref> Unsurprisingly, McCarthy was fired in less than a year.<ref>[http://time.com/2931499/sherri-shepherd-jenny-macarthy-leaving-the-view/ Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy Are Leaving The View], ''TIME''</ref>

In addition to her unscientific scaremongering on vaccines, she has also made disturbing comments about [[HIV]] following the revelation in 2015 that her former co-star Charlie Sheen suffers from the condition.  McCarthy's comments suggest that she thinks HIV can be transmitted by kissing (though she later denied this) or that people interacting with an HIV-positive individual have a 'right to know'.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/11/20/jenny_mccarthy_on_charlie_sheen_s_hiv_her_anti_science_quacktivism_continues.html "Jenny McCarthy Applies Her Anti-Science Quacktivism to Charlie Sheen’s HIV Status"], ''Slate'', November 20, 2015.</ref>

==Vaccines are Satan==
Her involvement in publicly creating hysterics around vaccines began with her son, Evan. At first she opined that she was an [[indigo child|indigo]] and her son was of the [[indigo child#Crystal children|crystal]] persuasion after being told this by a random stranger,<ref>[http://www.childrenofthenewearth.com/free.php?page=articles_free/mccarthy_jenny/article1 "Children of the New Earth: Insights of an Indigo Mom - A Mother's Awakening"]</ref> but then she discovered the vaccine hysteria and latched on to that instead. She later claimed that her son's autism was caused by the [[MMR|mumps, measles, rubella]] vaccine but that it was cured through [[chelation therapy]]. She wrote a book ''Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism'' and has appeared on [[Oprah]] and ''Larry King Live'' advocating [[quack]]ery and marketing [[Autism and pseudoscience|false hope]].

Although Jim Carrey has split from McCarthy, he still is a big promoter of the anti-vax position.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-carrey/the-judgment-on-vaccines_b_189777.html</ref><ref>http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/04/fire_marshall_bill_discusses_vaccines.php</ref><ref>http://scienceblogs.com/whitecoatunderground/2009/04/jenny_mccarthy_not_dumb_enough.php</ref><ref>http://www.salon.com/2015/07/01/jim_carrey_leads_californias_paranoid_anti_vax_freakout_this_corporate_fascist_must_be_stopped/</ref> His concoction of a conspiracy theory against [[Andrew Wakefield]] is no less mind-boggling.<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/02/best_conspiracy_theory_ever_over_andrew.php</ref>

Years later, ''TIME'' revealed that her son had probably never had autism to begin with but {{wpl|Landau-Kleffner syndrome||,}} which is commonly mistaken for autism.<ref>[http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2010/02/26/jenny-mccarthy-says-her-son-evan-never-had-autism/ Jenny McCarthy’s Son May Not Have Had Autism After All], Hollywood Life</ref> Despite this, McCarthy has not backed down from her anti-vaccine position.

==2010s==
In 2012, in Life & Style magazine interview, McCarthy admitted 'I’m an obvious [[Botox]] user. I tell everyone,'. In 2013 she got a large tattoo on her foot. She also has a tiny lower back tattoo and finger tattoos.

On April 2014, in a ''Chicago Sun-Times'' column, she [[Bullshit|denied ever having been against vaccination while claiming to be "pro-vaccine safety"]]:

{{quotebox|I am not "anti-vaccine." This is not a change in my stance nor is it a new position that I have recently adopted. For years, I have repeatedly stated that I am, in fact, "pro-vaccine" and for years I have been wrongly branded as "anti-vaccine."<ref>[http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/26784527-452/jenny-mccarthy-the-gray-area-on-vaccines.html Jenny McCarthy: "The gray area on vaccines"], ''Chicago Sun-Times''</ref>}}

Then, [[Cognitive dissonance|in that same column]], she said:
{{quotebox|We are demanding safe vaccines. We want to reduce the schedule and reduce the [[toxins]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/04/16/jenny-mccarthy-says-she-isnt-anti-vaccine-here-are-some-other-things-she-has-said-about-vaccinations/ Jenny McCarthy says she isn’t anti-vaccine. Here are some other things she has said about vaccinations], ''Washington Post''</ref>}} Which basically means she still is completely clueless.


==Ableism==
As with the case of most anti-vaxxers<ref>https://www.boostoregon.org/blog/ableism-in-the-anti-vaccine-movement</ref>, McCarthy's motivations for spreading these pseudoscientific beliefs and conspiracy theories mainly stems for her perception of [[Ableism|autistic people and other mental disability groups as "defective" sub-humans]] who burden their families with pain and heartache. Although McCarthy (and even some in the media<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/jenny-mccarthy-talks-to-cnbc-about-autism-and-her-family.html</ref>) has portrayed herself as an "advocate" for autistic children and awareness, she has also on many occasions described the disorder and the growing presence of it in society with rather pathologizing rhetoric, often referring to it as an "epidemic" that must be stop at all costs.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/JennyMcCarthyOfficial/videos/jb-handley-how-to-end-the-autism-epidemic/1882705775100458/</ref>

==See also==
*[[Age of Autism]] &mdash; the nonsense-factory that hosts her blog
*[[Appeal to celebrity]] &mdash; the general malady
*[[Joseph McCarthy]] &mdash; seriously, McCarthy is a common last name

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090405221350/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/02/jenny-mccarthy-counts-for-something/ Jenny McCarthy counts for something], ''Bad Astronomy''
*[http://blogs.nature.com/nyc/2009/04/28/celebrity-based-science-and-the-decline-of-journalism Celebrity-based science and the decline of journalism], ''Nature''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130725025345/http://www.onthemedia.org/2013/jul/19/dangerous-view/ NPR's Bob Garfield loses his mind at the prospect of Jenny McCarthy joining ''The View'']
*[http://jennymccarthybodycount.com/ A relatively old website that tallied up preventable illnesses and deaths]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1R8_on-cTA  "Botox, Spray Tanning and... " Jenny McCarthy's Beauty Secret Confessions, 2012]


==References==
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[[Category:Ableism]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:Autism woo]]
[[Category:Bloggers]]
[[Category:Crank magnetism]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Rape culture]]

Categories: Ableism, Actors, Anti-vaccination movement, Autism woo, Bloggers, Crank magnetism, Living people, Pseudoscience promoters, Rape culture