Rapper and actor O’Shea Jackson, who goes by the stage name Ice Cube, discussed his decision to turn down a movie deal citing COVID-19 vaccination as a stipulation.
In October 2021, Jackson turned down a role in Oh Hell No, now titled Stepdude, starring alongside fellow actor Jack Black after the film’s producers required the rapper be vaccinated for COVID-19. The deal was reportedly worth $9 million
“I turned down a movie because I didn’t want to get the motherf—— jab,” Jackson said during a November 2022 episode of the Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast. “I turned down $9 million.”
He added: “F— that jab and f— y’all for trying to make me get it.”
Jackson recently elaborated on his decision to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience with comedian Joe Rogan.
“I didn’t even tell people that I wasn’t vaccinated,” Jackson said. “I didn’t tell people not to go get vaccinated. I didn’t tell people that I’m not doing this movie because I don’t want to be vaccinated.”
“But somehow, some way, the news hit,” he continued, adding he was unsure which outlet initially reported the story. “I thought it was chicken s—.”
.@IceCube: I’d Rather Turn Down $20 Million Than Take the COVID Shot
October 2021, @IceCube turned down a $9 million movie role in “Oh Hell No” after being told by producers to get vaccinated.
“That was never gonna happen,” he reflected. “I don’t care if it was $20 million.… pic.twitter.com/xZU4DtsQNH
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) July 2, 2023
“What happened to the HIPPA laws? … Where you’re not supposed to reveal a person’s medical status,” he said. “And here it is, they printing mine.”
Jackson said media revealing his vaccination status was “bulls—” and snowballed.
“What they want is for people to tell me I’m stupid,” he said. “They want people to tell me, ‘You turning down $9 million? You’re stupid. I’ll do anything for $9 million. How stupid can Cube be?'”
“I don’t care about that,” Jackson said. “I didn’t lose $9 million because I never had it.”
“They tried to put my business in the street, put pressure on me. Everybody around me tell[ing] me how stupid I am so I can go get vaxxed and say, ‘Please let me do the movie.’ That was never gonna happen.”
Jackson said he didn’t care if the movie deal was for $20 million, to which Rogan noted if he was injured by the COVID-19 vaccine he would have given up the $20 million to be healthy again.
“Damn right,” Jackson said in agreement.
In late June, Jackson posted a video to Twitter calling out “gatekeepers.”
“Some of you may not have realized that I’m not part of the club,” he says at the top of the video, adding many listeners weren’t part of “the club” either.
“What I realized with the club is what makes them so mad is when you don’t want to be a part of they f—in’ club,” he continued. “That pisses them off.”
“Ever since I put out the Contract with Black America, you know they been f—in’ with me,” he said of his 2020 proposal. “Here and there, this and that. But it’s cool, you know?”
The rapper said he “expected” pushback for his Contract with Black America, which provided a “patriotic pathway” to promote shared prosperity and achieve racial economic justice.
The rapper said he will embark on a “f— the gatekeepers” podcast tour to get his message out.
“The important thing is for me to go on these platforms … say what I feel about what I think,” he continued. “Some people may get pissed off, cause I’m going to talk to everybody. I’m not playin’.”
