Stephen Colbert health scare sparks COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories

Stephen Colbert’s announcement that he has canceled a week of shows as he recovers from surgery for a ruptured appendix has sparked a wave of unfounded conspiracy theories that his condition was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Monday, the 59-year-old comedian said in a social media post that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert would not go ahead as planned this week as he recuperated. Guests scheduled to make appearances on the show this week included Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Garner, Baz Luhrmann, Patrick Stewart, and Kelsey Grammer.

“Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week,” shared in his announcement. “I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?’ Actually, I’m recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix.

“I’m grateful to my doctors for their care and to [wife] Evie and the kids for putting up with me. Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas.”

Colbert’s announcement was met with immediate cynicism from a number of vaccine skeptics. Claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause health problems or increase the chance of death are often made by groups opposed to vaccination and used in conspiracy theories concerning supposed population control.

Many anti-vaccination activists have attempted to link deaths among athletes and other notable figures to being vaccinated—especially those who otherwise appeared healthy before having a cardiac arrest. The phrase “died suddenly” has become a dog-whistle for such assertions.

Linking Colbert to such unfounded claims has been all the more pronounced this week, as several skeptical social media users brought up a 2021 skit in which the comedian danced with humans dressed as vaccines. It was a recurring parody called The Vax-Scene and in it they changed the lyrics of “Tequila” by The Champs to “Vaccine.”

A video of the skit was on Wednesday shared on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the suggestive caption: “Stephen Colbert is canceling shows due to health concerns….do you think???”

“What exactly are Stephen Colbert‘s vaccine, I mean health, problems?” an X user responded.

Another claimed they were “just notified” that Colbert’s appendix “exploded after he got one of the COV boosters. Now I am wondering if any of the dancing vaccines whom he employed were wounded by the shrapnel from his appendix when it blew!”

“Stephen Colbert took the vaccine,” said another. “Just think you have to get tested to see if you have the virus and the government forced you to take the vaccine.”

Another detractor wrote: “Stephen Colbert’s appendix burst following a Covid-19 booster. The most egregious vaccine zealot in the country is recovering from his meeting with karma. Let this be a lesson to the nation to avoid this toxic trash (both the shot & this ‘entertainer’).”

The X user added that “there is no evidence that Stephen Colbert’s appendix burst following a Covid-19 booster. Yes, he was vaccinated to the gills. Yes, he was a Covid-19 vaccine spokesperson. Yes, appendicitis is a known vaccine injury. But vaccines are magic because shut up and obey!”

Konstantinos Lontos, Ph.D., a hematology and oncology doctor, responded: “Appendicitis incidence is increased after the vaccine, that’s correct. Vaccination is not risk-free. I still recommend to everyone the vaccine.”

Other X users were more critical of those who had flooded the platform with vaccine skepticism regarding Colbert.

“It takes a special level of weirdo to blame every sickness people now get on the vaccine,” said one. “Stephen Colbert has appendicitis? It’s the vaccine! F****** morons.”

Observing the online reactions, another commented: “Stephen Colbert: I have appendicitis. Bats*** Cultists: THE VACCINE GOT HIM GET YOUR GUNS.”

“#StephenColbert has a medical emergency and righties are all, ‘HAHA MUST HAVE BEEN THE VACCINE! DIE LEFTIE!!!!’ The right is such an insane, cartoonishly supervillain-esque cult,” another chimed in.

“They’re so excited that one of their critics won’t be on TV for a bit….don’t worry fascists, the world is still laughing at you daily,” they added.

“Shouldn’t have looked at Twitter/X,” another wrote. “Reading that nutjobs are saying Stephen Colbert’s appendicitis was caused by the COVID vaccines. Jesus. Bloody. Wept.”

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Colbert via email for comment.

As of this past April, approximately 366,905,365 Pfizer vaccines had been administered in the U.S., according to Statista. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describes the two mRNA vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna—as “safe and effective.”

The mRNA technology used to create the vaccines had been in development for more than 15 years before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, and both the Pfizer and Moderna versions received full Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

FactCheck.org, a nonprofit website that identifies misinformation in American politics, debunked the claims that COVID-19 vaccines have caused excessive deaths, as alleged by an anti-vaccine group, the Vaccine Damage Project.

Although there were “excess deaths”—a higher than expected number of mortalities across the population during a specific time period—in the U.S. in 2021 and 2022, these were linked to cases of COVID-19, along with increased deaths by drug overdose, alcohol and motor vehicle accidents. Many of the 1.3 million excess deaths from February 2021 to April 2023 were due to COVID-19, according to the CDC.

In May 2022, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, posted a screenshot on X from an FDA document that discussed adverse reactions to the Pfizer vaccine. She misinterpreted the page, suggesting that 1,223 people died after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

Although the reports confirm that 1,223 people died after vaccination, the cause of the death was not verified as being linked to the vaccine and was due to a number of reasons, with no “novel safety concerns or risks requiring label changes” found, according to the document.

On November 3, the FDA defended Pfizer against accusations that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was “contaminated.”

A representative told Newsweek: “With over a billion doses of the mRNA vaccines administered, no safety concerns related to the sequence of, or amount of, residual DNA have been identified.”