America's Next Top Model alum Adrianne Curry has defended Violet Affleck after video footage emerged of her speaking out against mask bans.
Affleck, the 18-year-old daughter of Hollywood stars Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, spoke about the mask availability, among other methods of maintaining public safety amid COVID-19, during the public comment section of a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 9.
Without being specific, the teen, who wore a mask throughout her speech, said that she "contracted a post-viral condition in 2019. I'm OK now, but I saw first-hand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief."
Going on to speak about the "devastating" effects of long COVID, the younger Affleck said that it "can take away people's ability to work, move, see and even think." She called for masks to be made available in jails, mask mandates to be implemented in medical facilities, and wider access to free COVID-19 tests.
Urging the county not to enact mask bans "for any reason," Violet Affleck argued: "They do not keep us safer. They make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together."
Footage of the speech was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Oli London, a British influencer who previously identified as transracial, gender neutral, and transgender. London described the speech as "unhinged" in a lengthy accompanying caption.
Weighing in, Curry, who now goes by Curry-Rhode since marrying voice actor Matthew Rhode in 2018, said that mockery was directed at the wrong person as she expressed her own disdain for COVID-19 protocols.
"This is what fear mongering for profit and political power has done to kids that grew up in it," wrote former model Curry, who won the first cycle of ANTM in 2003. "Don't mock her. Mock yourself for allowing this to happen to developing minds."
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Garner and Ben Affleck via email for comment.
Elsewhere in her speech, Violet Affleck—who is the eldest of the three children shared by her parents, whose divorce was finalized in 2018—said that long COVID "stands to exacerbate our homelessness crisis as well as the suffering of many people in our city. It hits communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, women and anyone in a public-facing essential job the hardest."
"To confront the long COVID crisis, I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC lights in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities," she added.
Long COVID is categorized as new, persistent, or recurring symptoms that occur at least four or more weeks after the initial infection with COVID-19. It can affect anyone, irrespective of the severity of their initial infection.
At least 65 million individuals have been affected by this chronic post-viral condition worldwide, a study published in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology in January 2023 reports, equating to roughly one in 10 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Among the more than 200 symptoms associated with long COVID, brain fog is one of the most widespread and long-lasting, with a study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, finding nearly 90 percent of people with long COVID experiencing fatigue, forgetfulness and brain fog.
Such celebrities as Gwyneth Paltrow, Dave Navarro, and Alyssa Milano have spoken about the "pretty wild" symptoms they experienced due to long COVID.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
