Calum Von Moger, the Australian bodybuilder and actor, looked up to Arnold Schwarzenegger his entire life. He even portrayed the former California governor in a recent movie. He isn’t a hero to Von Moger anymore.
After Schwarzenegger’s widely-publicized ''Screw Your Freedom'' comments last week, Von Moger’s opinions changed. ''I looked up to him my whole life while I was training,'' Von Moger said of the "Terminator star" in 2017. ''I can’t support someone who doesn’t support our freedom,'' he recently posted on social media.
He added that he has removed posters of Schwarzenegger that once help motivate him as he trained for bodybuilding success, according to Breitbart.com.
During a television interview about the COVID-19 pandemic, Schwarzenegger said: ''I think people should know there is a virus here. It kills people. And the only way we prevent it is to get vaccinated, to wear masks, to do social distancing, washing your hands all the time, and not just to think about, 'Well, my freedom is being kind of disturbed here,''' he mocked. ''Screw your freedom,'' Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger has supported masks since the early days of the pandemic. Last June, the high-profile actor declared only an ''absolute moron'' would make masking political by refusing to wear one. To underscore his point, he called non-mask-wearers ''schmucks'' in an Atlantic magazine article.
''You have the freedom to wear no mask. But if you exercise that freedom, you’re a schmuck — because you’re supposed to protect your fellow Americans,'' he wrote.
In addition to losing Von Moger’s respect, it’s been reported Schwarzenegger has also lost at least one endorsement deal over the ''freedom'' comments.
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