| Died Suddenly | |
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 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Matthew Skow |
| Produced by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Died Suddenly is a 2022 American anti-vaccination film directed by Matthew Skow andexecutive-produced byStew Peters,[2] afar-right andalt-rightanti-vaccine activist.[11] It promotesfalse claims about COVID-19 vaccines andGreat Reset conspiracy theories.[17] The film was released onRumble andTwitter on November 21, 2022.[1][16]
On May 30, 2023, Peters released a related film,Final Days, on Twitter.[18]
In late 2021, videos spread onFacebook andInstagram that baselessly claimed 62% of those who receive themRNA vaccine developblood clots, and thatPfizer's vaccine creates clots "in a minute or two". The claim originates from Dr. Charles Hoffe, who has made other false claims aboutCOVID-19 vaccines, such as claiming that they are "clearly more dangerous" than the disease itself.[19][20][21] While studies have found possible causal links between the AstraZeneca andJanssen COVID-19 vaccines and a rare clotting disorder known asthrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), there were only 47 confirmed cases out of 15 million participants as of October 2021.[19][20]
Stew Peters is an Americanfar-rightmedia personality who is known for promotingCOVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. He has referred to the vaccine as a "bio-weapon", claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for the deaths of people, and has called for "the people in our government responsible" to be "put on trial and executed". He has been banned fromSpotify for his disproven claims.[22][23] Peters has previously produced the anti-vaccine filmWatch the Water, which purports that COVID-19 vaccines are derived fromsnake venom in order to transform people into "a hybrid ofSatan".[24]
The main narrative of the film is that the COVID-19 vaccines have supposedly caused otherwise healthy individuals to "die suddenly" en masse from excessiveblood clotting caused by thespike protein produced by themRNA vaccine, as well as an increase ofmiscarriages andBell's Palsy.[16] The film includes testimony fromembalmers andfuneral directors, who discuss the presence of "unusual" blood clots in the dead bodies of people they say had been vaccinated.[13][1][12] Experts quoted byAgence France-Presse (AFP) previously explained that clots could be caused by anything, such asobesity,smoking and being infected withCOVID-19, as well as the bodies being refrigerated.[25][12] It also features interviews with individuals known for promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, such as entrepreneurSteve Kirsch.[14]
The film referencesconspiracy theories about theWorld Economic Forum and theGreat Reset, suggesting that a 2019 pandemic preparedness exercise was proof that theCOVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated by "nefarious global elites".[12] It also promotes claims thatBill Gates is planning to kill off up to 15% of the world's population using vaccines, the evidence for which is a misrepresented video clip of Gates at aTED Talk in 2010 where he states that providing better healthcare topoor countries could slow population growth.[14][12][16] The film also includes a graph showing stillbirths increasing in 2021, relying on thecorrelation is causation fallacy and falsified data to claim that COVID-19 vaccines caused an increase in miscarriages.[26] The film also falsely claims thatadverse events reported by Pfizer from sources such as theYellow Card system in the UK and theVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the US prove that the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful for human health.[27]
A two-minute trailer was released onTwitter on October 5, 2022 by a dedicated account for the film, which was created the same day. The trailer went viral on social media.[14]Lead Stories fact-checked the trailer, and found that it relied on out-of-context screenshots and clips that did not demonstrate a link between the COVID-19 vaccines and sudden death.[28][14]
The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022.[1][16] Within hours of the film's premiere, it went viral on social media, garnering over 7 million views and over 30,000 retweets within a day. It was shared by individuals such as former U.S. congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, websites such asLifeSiteNews, and conspiracy groups.[14] By November 23, it had been viewed over 4 million times on Rumble and 1.5 million times on Twitter.[26] By January 2023, it had been viewed almost 20 million times. It was promoted byMarjorie Taylor Greene andCandace Owens.[29]
In November 2022, theBBC reported that bereaved families had been subjected to online harassment due to the film's release, after social media users falsely connected the sudden deaths of people to mRNA vaccines.[26][30]
Jonathan Jarry of theUniversity of McGill wrote that what the film does is "akin tograve-robbing", adding: "It raids online obituaries, with complete disregard for consent or basicjournalistic integrity, and stitches apseudoscientific horror story with the faces of the deceased."[13]David Gorski ofScience-Based Medicine referred to the film as a "pseudodocumentary" and a "propaganda film", panning it for its misrepresentation of postmortem blood clotting, extensive use of shock imagery to scare the viewer, and for "[resurrecting] the old antivax conspiracy that vaccines kill".[16] VirologistAngela Rasmussen of theUniversity of Saskatchewan described the film as anti-vaccine propaganda and "A couple hours of grifters telling lies so you'll give them money. Even half of the people who supposedly 'died suddenly' didn't die!"[31]
The film has received criticism from some members of theanti-vaccine movement,[8] who said that the film was so poorly-researched that it had to becontrolled opposition intended to discredit the movement.[32]
In April 2024, Peters sued the film's producers, including conspiracy theoristLauren Witzke, for allegedly acting as its owners, falsely advertising a sequel and collecting donations on his behalf. Witzke, Edward Szall, Matthew Skow, and Nicholas Stumphauzer were identified as the defendants.[2]
Peters, a far-right talk show host, regularly promotes conspiracy theories and false claims about the coronavirus and vaccines on his program "The Stew Peters Show."
The documentary, titled Watch the Water, was produced by a far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracy theorist named Stew Peters.
The video is an interview between far-right radio host Stew Peters, who has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories...
Stew Peters is one of the most visible figures in the far-right influencer circuit...
"Died Suddenly" was produced by Stew Peters, a far-right radio show host with a history of spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
Reuters asked if Hoffe had any printed evidence to support his claims, but he said the results were preliminary and currently unpublished. ... Media reports say that Hoffe has previously made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine (here , here).
Stew Peters, a right-wing shock jock known for making inflammatory and false claims, including baselessly calling the COVID-19 vaccine a "bio-weapon,"...
A graph in the film showing stillbirths shooting up around 2021, making the unsupported suggestion Covid vaccines are causing miscarriages, looks shocking. The film-makers don't provide a source, though. Although the voiceover claims the data is from Waterloo, Canada, genuine data from Ontario, the province Waterloo is part of, has not seen any increase in stillbirths, according to Dr Victoria Male, a reproductive immunologist. In fact, a large study found a "lower (not higher) rate of stillbirth among those vaccinated in pregnancy, compared to those who were not," she said.