Topics: Andy Cohen, anti-vaccine, Autism, kristin cavallari, vaccines, Entertainment News
Kristin Cavallari, the former star of “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills,” was on Bravo’s ebullient late-night show “Watch What Happens Live” last night. The show generally steers entirely clear of politics in favor of party games and pure nostalgia — Cavallari, for instance, began the show by running through some questions about how real and how fake was “The Hills,” which ended in 2010.
But Cavallari also addressed a recent controversy over her announcement on the Fox Business Channel that she’s not vaccinating her children (she is pregnant with her second child). “We got a lot of questions about your stand on vaccines,” said host Andy Cohen.
“I had a feeling you would,” said Cavallari.
Cohen read a call sent in via email, before trailing off: “How can you knowingly support the spread of potentially deadly diseases by not vaccinating your children? What’s your …”
Cavallari’s response is a masterpiece of the Palinesque implication that mothers have access to some higher truth that transcends science, and of presenting pseudoscience as inherently better than established scientific fact, because it’s more novel:
“Here’s the thing. At the end of the day, I’m just a mom, I’m trying to make the best decision for my kid. There are very scary statistics out there regarding what is in vaccines and what they cause: asthma, allergies, ear infections — all kinds of things. We feel like we’re making the best decision for our kids.”
Her kids are now not part of the so-called herd that’s long prevented diseases like measles and mumps, both now breaking out, from surfacing. But Cohen, unwilling to make a guest uncomfortable, declared “Personal decision. Very good” — though Cavallari’s decisions, here, affect Cohen and all of us.
