Evangeline Lilly is apparently refusing to self-quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic


Evangeline Lilly wouldn't let Vanessa Hudgens be the only celebrity to get into hot water with their coronavirus takes this week.
The Ant-Man and Lost star came under fire after on Instagram wrongly claiming the COVID-19 coronavirus is just "a respiratory flu" and complaining it doesn't justify "the all-out, global lockdown, control, pandemonia and insanity we are experiencing," as reported by Page Six. The novel coronavirus, in fact, seems to be about 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu.
Lilly also suggested she refuses to self-quarantine during the pandemic. The actress wrote "#businessasusual" on a photo of a cup of tea while saying that she "just dropped my kids off at gymnastics camp." When one user commented, "no Corona House Arrest???," she replied, "Not for this family." This is despite the fact that Lilly said that she is "living with my father at the moment, who has stage four lukemia" and "I am also immune compromised at the moment."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But in another comment, Lilly said "some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices." And she even appeared to float a conspiracy theory surrounding the coronavirus by writing "there's 'something' every election year" in response to a user who claimed that "every few years some disease come out quick then disappears as quick as it came," apparently baselessly implying the pandemic is a hoax.
Lilly received a fair amount of pushback on Instagram even before generating heat on Twitter, with one user writing back to her, echoing the advice of health officials, "Oh that's disappointing. Social distancing is the only way to protect the most vulnerable. We are all in this together." This comes after Hudgens apologized this week for her own "insensitive" remarks about the COVID-19 coronavirus, with both stories leading The New York Times' Astead W. Herndon to joke, "coronavirus is like a blacklight for celebrity clownship."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play