Dr. Drew Pinsky has released a video apologizing for many disparaging statements he made about COVID-19 (coronavirus) and how the press was creating panic.
There is a video out there that gathered many of Dr. Drew’s statement about coronavirus and how it was really nothing. It started in early January, where he flat out said it wouldn’t kill anyone and that this was a media-driven story. Drew went on to compare the virus with the flu and the number of fatalities (which I never did because we didn’t know what we were dealing with, even I knew that).
This video mashup collected clips of Pinsky on his online show “Ask Dr. Drew,” his podcast “Dr. Drew After Dark” and other media appearances. He repeatedly suggested the coronavirus would be not as bad as the flu, at one point saying the probability of dying of coronavirus was less than being hit by an asteroid. After a few months, Drew is apologizing to his followers and fans in a very somber way.
Dr. Drew Pinsky has apologized for a series of statements unspooled in a recent video where he downplayed the coronavirus and suggested it was a “press-induced panic.”
“I wish I had gotten it right, but I got it wrong,” said Pinsky in a video posted over the weekend. Pinsky, 61, is known as “Dr. Drew.”
Pinsky’s apology was prompted by an online video that put together clips from a series of appearances he made over a two-month period. It’s a storytelling form that has gained steam amid the pandemic: The Washington Post has done mashups focused on President Donald Trump and Fox News, while Comedy Central on Friday issued a video targeting conservative personalities.
In his apology, Pinsky noted that he was “part of a chorus” that was equating the coronavirus to the flu. He said he didn’t understand the ferocity of the illness and had been primarily looking at the number of influenza cases.
While he did not say the clips had been edited in a deceptive way, he noted that in most of his appearances, he also directed viewers toward the guidance of Dr. Anthony Fauci and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Pinsky did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press Monday.
In Dr. Drew’s defense, Dr. Fauci did say back on January 21: “Coronavirus is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now.” But no excuse for sticking to his original stance for the past month when it became obvious it’s much worse than the flu.
Dr. Drew, thank you for apologizing and admitting that you were initially wrong. I respect you more today.
This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on April 8, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com [1] and is used by permission.
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