State Farm has dropped Rob Schneider and his famous "Richmeister" character he played on "Saturday Night Live" from a recent ad campaign after customers complained of his anti-vaccination views.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Schneider has joined a small chorus of celebrities like Jenny McCarthy in condemning vaccines, citing studies widely discredited by the medical community that link vaccinations to autism and other ailments.
After Schneider's commercial debuted, many opponents of the anti-vaccine movement
made videos, emailed, and called their State Farm representatives, and bombarded the company's social media profiles with complaints and demands that it remove the ads.
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State Farm eventually capitulated, and pulled the television spot.
"State Farm advertising is intended to inform and entertain," State Farm said in a statement this week. "This particular ad has unintentionally been used as a platform for discussion unrelated to the products and services we provide. With that, we are working to remove the ad from our rotation at this time."
On Wednesday, Schneider attempted to defend his position by tweeting a quote from our nation's first president, and thanking his supporters.
The Reporter noted that Los Angeles' affluent West Side and schools like Beverly Hills High have vaccination rates medical professionals say are dangerously low.
Schneider, McCarthy, and other celebs have been criticized for lending their voices to the anti-vaccine movement, which many have said endangers not only themselves, but those around them.
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