In a recent interview with conservative political commentator, Tucker Carlson, former N.W.A rapper Ice Cube opened up about his decision to refuse the Covid-19 vaccine. The 54-year-old father of five who lost a $9 million film role due to his stance explained he was not convinced by the vaccine’s rushed development, stating that he didn’t feel safe taking it.
‘It wasn’t ready.. it was six months kind of rush job and I didn’t feel safe,’ he said.
Despite being ordered to get vaccinated, Ice Cube stood firm on his convictions, emphasizing that he didn’t trust the decision-makers, as they would face no repercussions if they were wrong while he would bear all the consequences.
‘I know what they said. I heard what they said – I heard them loud and clear.
‘But it’s not their decision. There is no repercussions if they are wrong. I get all the repercussions if they are wrong.’
Despite the financial loss he faced, Ice Cube, real name O’Shea Jackson regarded the choice as straightforward, driven by his desire to set an example for his children.
‘I wanted to be an example for my kids. Make sure they didn’t take it either. I was willing to stand on my convictions.’
Carlson highlighted how Ice Cube was “attacked” for his stance, sharing a clip from SNL that parodied the rapper’s decision. The ‘Good Day’ rapper clarified that he never publicly discouraged anyone from getting vaccinated, and he had hoped to handle the matter privately, expressing frustration that it became a public issue.
‘I never told anyone not to get vaccinated, publicly. That was never my message to the world,’ said Ice Cube.
‘I didn’t even want people to know whether I got vaccinated or not. I was pretty upset that that even came out. I was just going to quietly not take it and deal with the consequences as they came.’
Shifting the conversation, Ice Cube shared his initial optimism about Barack Obama’s presidency, saying: ‘For the first time, I felt proud that America took that step. So that was a moment in time.’
However, over time, he observed little improvement in the lives of the people he cared about.
‘But then you look around, years go by, and not much changed for people I know, people I care about.
‘It didn’t change with Bush, with Clinton, elder Bush, Reagan, Carter. So at the end of the day, it’s still the same as it was.’
Carlson asked if the election of Obama was symbolic.
‘Yes,’ said the rapper. ‘In a lot of ways, yes.’
The Inglewood native, who has long been a vocal advocate for racial equality faced backlash from internet trolls earlier this year over his alleged alliance with the Republican party. The West Coast legend was accused of only appearing ‘every four years’ to encourage black people to vote for Republicans who ‘openly suppress the Black vote.’
In response to the attacks, Cube said, ‘I never told yo’ Black ass who to vote for. So stop lying and get that ‘click bait’ out’cha mouth.’
During the lead up to the 2020 American Presidential elections, Cube came under intense scrutiny for working with Donald Trump on his campaign.
‘Let me get this straight, I get the president of the United States to agree to put over half a trillion dollars of capital in the Black Community (without an endorsement) and N-ggas are mad at me? Have a nice life,” Cube tweeted at the time, explaining his decision to work with Trump’s administration.
‘Facts: I put out the CWBA,’ Cube added. ‘Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA.’
