Del Bigtree heads up the nonprofit consumer group “Informed Consent Action Network” and hosts the internet talk show “The HighWire.”
In America, we have the freedom to say, read or believe most anything, no matter how distasteful or false some may claim it to be— except that which is illegal. But in recent times, the heavy hand of censorship has become a sledgehammer.
Here at SharylAttkisson.com, I’m highlighting people, ideas and topics that other outlets have declared too hot to handle. Whether I personally agree with them or not is beside the point.
When a person or idea is censored, we should learn to actively seek out their message and consider: Why do powerful interests want to censor this particular information, rather than letting us do our own research and form our own conclusions?
For more CENSORED, click here.
A transcript of the report about Del Bigtree follows:
Del Bigtree: My background is I was a CBS producer on the medical talk show, The Doctors. I won an Emmy Award celebrating the best that science and medicine has to offer.
Bigtree made a documentary about what he learned: VAXXED. The film faced intense lobbying from interests claiming the film was untrue and dangerous and got it cancelled from film festivals. Bigtree, the Emmy Award winning science producer, instantly became controversial.
Del Bigtree: I mean, we were censored from the beginning. The first thing we were going to do is we were going to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and then all hell broke loose when Tribeca announced that our film was there. So getting kicked out of that festival was the beginning of this firestorm around what we’re doing.
Critics claimed Bigtree lacked the credentials to make a film on vaccine controversies because he’s not a doctor. But countless critically acclaimed medical documentaries are by non-doctors.* And Bigtree consulted with and interviewed doctors… and his featured whistleblower is an MD.
Sharyl: There was a time in journalism when pretty much anything could be discussed. We thought it was our responsibility to present different viewpoints, whether we agreed with them or not, whether the powers that be agreed with them or not, because the powers that be are often wrong or have conflicts of interest.
Del Bigtree: You’re right. As a journalist, I thought our job was to always question the status quo, but also to present to the world, other perspectives. Whether we agree or not, in America, we’ve got this great freedom of speech, freedom of the press, so that we can be educated on not just what our nation believes or what we think the truths are, but what other dictators and people think.
Then, in early 2019, Congressman Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Big Tech companies demanding they take down all material questioning vaccine safety, arguing it’s dangerous.
24 hours later, our film was no longer available on Amazon. You couldn’t buy it. You couldn’t get to it. We had YouTube channels, everything just disappeared overnight around that film Vaxxed, along with many books. For me, that’s book burning. I mean, that’s modern day book burning. That’s the same as you might as well just start dragging books out in the street and burning them.
Sharyl: What do you say to those who say the things that you talk about, and you have such a big following, are just too dangerous, too off the main in terms of what they would say medical mainstream science says, and it could be dangerous people, so therefore you shouldn’t be heard?
Del Bigtree: We can never get to a place where we say the truth is just … you can handle the truth, right? That’s what media is now saying, I think, to all of America, “You can’t handle the truth.”
Sharyl: Well, your critics would say, it’s not that they’re saying people can’t handle the truth. They accuse you of not telling the truth. That’s a little different.
Del Bigtree: It’s really e asy to accuse someone of not telling the truth, but they would have to have proof. None of my accusers will sit down in a debate with me. I’m so confident that what I’m saying is backed by science, I’ll walk into any debate at any time. We’re the beacon of light in the world for truth, because we’re able to see all sides of it and aren’t being manipulated to only have one perspective driven by our government. That’s what freedom is.
Shortly before our interview, Bigtree’s Facebook page was cancelled. Meantime, Congressman Schiff is currently being sued by a medical group whose vaccine safety information was also impacted as a result of his letter to Big Tech companies.