De Niro pulls his anti-vaxxer film and explains why

As Greg and I posted yesterday, Robert De Niro pushed to have Andrew Wakefield’s new film, ““Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” included in the Tribeca Film Festival. He and his wife have an autistic child, which might explain why he was so gung-ho on showing a film that paints Wakefield as a hero and the medical establishment as engaged in a massive coverup. Apparently De Niro wasn’t aware of Wakefield’s fraudulent studies trying to connect autism with the MMR vaccine, or of his subsequent disgrace and loss of his medical license.

Greg noted yesterday that the Festival had pulled the film, but today’s New York Times gives a bit more information. You can read the article, but here’s De Niro’s take:

In a statement, Robert De Niro, a founder of the festival, wrote: “My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is…