Joyous Heart, an Austin-based man, posted a photo to Instagram in March 2021 of a group very well-dressed and attractive people, posing against a stunning sunset backdrop. “What a wonderful tribe of human being we have here in Austin… so grateful to be co-creating and experiencing life with these superheroes!,”The caption was as follows:
The post states that the event was to honor Dr. Micah Pittman’s 46th Birthday. Pittman is the chiropractor in Lakeway, Texas. He regularly posts anti-vaccine content as well as conspiracy theory memes about Covid.Instagram page. Indeed, by all appearances, the event seems to have been a who’s who of people prominent in the Austin “conspirituality”Community is a term that describes the intersection of conspiracy theories and spirituality.
JP Sears is a conservative comedian, influencer and entrepreneur who has nearly one million Instagram fans with his anti-vaccine and anti-mask content. He was accompanied by his wife Amber. (Sears spokeCal Callahan, a podcaster who has been featured at the Defeat the Mandates protest in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 23, was there as well. Platformed PlandemicMikki Willis interviews filmmakers on his podcast, The Great Unlearn.
AsVice reportedJoyous Heart was a brand last year that promoted himself as an “amazing” person. “transformation architect,”She is also active in Austin’s spiritual influencer community. She registered the website and LLC to Gold Star Oasis (a military-protected ecoresort that will be available for anyone who wants it). “reclaim sovereignty and co-create our world the way it was meant to be,” in November 2020. As reported by ViceAnd the Conspirituality podcast and documented by multiple social media posts, was attended by Sears and Willis, as well as far-right figures like Trump’s ex-wife Marla Maples.
One eagle-eyed commenter on Joyous Heart’s Instagram noticed another notable individual in attendance. “Is that the actor from Dawson’s Creek?,”Someone wrote. It was indeed, as confirmed by a repost of the photo on Pittman’s account tagging the Van Der Beeks, as well as the Searses. “Now that I’m back on the grams of insta I’ll post my bday and say some thanks for making it special,”Pittman wrote the caption.
Pittman often appears in Kimberly Van Der Beek’s Instagram Stories. Kimberly is a former WB star, and an Instagram influencer herself with more than 230,000 Instagram followers. Kimberly has garnered a robust following for documenting her picture-perfect lifestyle on the Texas ranch she shares with James, posting photos of their adorable tow-headed children (they have six) and their rustic adventures, such as catfishing or rattlesnake-wrangling. Kimberly has also gained a large following by sharing her many pregnancy losses. EndYou can get blood transfusions by going to the emergency department.
Kimberly has used her platform for years to promote holistic and alternative medicine practices. This has included vaccine-critical views or those that are overtly anti vaccine. For example, Kimberly believes vaccines can cause harm to children or are not sufficiently safety-tested. Some familiar with the Austin wellness community have reacted with alarm at the Van Der Beeks’ appearances in various conspiracists’ circles, as documented on Instagram. “I thought it was weird — how are these people hanging out with celebrities?,” one source close to the Austin wellness community says of seeing the Van Der Beeks’ show up on known Austin anti-vaxxers’ social media pages.
Van Der Beek himself has not openly discussed his views on vaccinations, and his representative did not immediately respond to questions regarding the Van der Beeks’ views on vaccines, or whether they are vaccinated against Covid-19. In one video, titled “in loving support of bodily sovereignty,”He admits that he supports abortion rights in the speech he made. “avoids getting political”through social media. Van Der Beek had previously Public support for vaccinesAstraZeneca partnered with the couple in 2014 to launch a campaign for flu shot awareness. The couple partnered up with the Red Cross in 2021. encourage blood donationKimberly has lost two pregnancies.
But he seems to be comfortable in Covid Denialism and conspiracy Theorist circles. Preston Smiles is one of James’ 127 Instagram followers. He has promoted the use ivermectin for Covid-19. James was born in late 2020. attended a men’s empowerment group led by Jordan Maurice Bowditch, a men’s performance and relationship coach who goes by @conscious.bro on Instagram. Bowditch was awarded criticism in early 2021 for attending a New Year’s Party mask-free after publicly announcing he had tested positive for Covid, and made a VideoLast October, JP Sears and his friend mocked the vaccine.
Kimberly, who did not respond to comment requests, has a well-documented past of Her social media accounts promoted vaccine misinformation. In 2016, she began posting ContentPropagating the false claim that vaccines cause autism. She was just one of many Hollywood stars who propagated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism in 2019. praised actress (and her husband’s Rules of Attraction Jessica Biel, costar, for her participation in lobbying against SB 276, which is a Californian law. BillThe law was passed that limited medical exemptions to mandatory vaccines. And in August 2019, a Venmo account under Van Der Beek’s name made a payment for food and drinks for what appears to be anti-vaccine activists who ProtestThe bill was presented to the California Appropriations Assembly Committee, Sacramento. “Food and drinks for our protesters! Thank you <3,”The caption to the payment is read together with the praise-hands Emoji.
Van Der Beek, like many other lifestyle and wellness influencers has seemed to have increased her rhetoric since the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020 she interviewed Dr. Pejman Kathirei, a Beverly Hills pediatrician, on Instagram as @holistickids. He promoted the idea. Some children may experience adverse reactions to vaccines.Such as autism and autoimmune diseases, and has advocated. Coloidal silver, intermittent fasting, essential oilsAs preventive measures against coronavirus.
A potential Covid-19 vaccine was the subject of the nearly hour-long conversation. It would not have been approved by FDA for FDA use for several more months. Van Der Beek claimed that she has learned a lot from the conversation. “family history of vaccine injury,”This term is often used by anti-vaccine activists to refer to the harms they believe are associated with childhood vaccinations. Van Der Beek re-used the phrase in her Instagram stories in April 2021. She reposted a tweet saying, “How can we say ‘believe victims’ without including victims of medical/vaccine injury?”. Side effects of vaccines that are serious are extremely rare. Public health consensus is that vaccines can be safely administered and are effective.
“Every pro vaccine person would probably agree they’d love to have the safest vaccine,”Van Der Beek speaks in the Live. “But this rat race to get out a vaccine and not telling us to get vitamin A, C, D, and all that, is concerning. And not all vaccines are widely tested.”Van Der Beek questions the statistics regarding the Covid-19 death rates in the Live. “I put a red flag on anyone who talks about death rates, rates increasing,”She says.
Van Der Beek also promoted conspiracy theories about Covid on her Instagram Stories. However, it seems that she deletes these stories after facing backlash. She republished an Instagram posting falsely claiming that rapper DMX had died after complications from the Covid-19 vaccination. “DMX’s family is being silenced by the news as they are calling his death an overdose,”This is the text of the post. “His family was saying he’s been clean and he literally just got his shot.”(DMX was added later). Find itAccording to an autopsy, he died from a cocaine-induced heart attack. It also included the caption. “Rest in love DMX, I won’t let your family be censored.”Later, she resigned from the position “out of respect for the family,” according to her follow-up Instagram story, though she added that she did believe the true cause of DMX’s death was being suppressed due to media “censorship”: “if you know, you know,”She added something cryptically. She continued to spread misinformation via Instagram, reposting content that promotes the. These claims are largely unfoundedAs recently as two weeks ago, there was a belief that 5G could cause adverse health effects.
Within the context of the greater Austin community, Van Der Beek’s views are not unusual. Over the past few years, the city’s free-thinking ethos has meshed with the burgeoning “medical freedom”To create a toxic mix of strong anti-vaccine sentiment. “Austin is the new seat for the holistic practitioner,”Derek Beres has documented the overlap of right-wing ideology with spiritualism in his podcast Conspirituality.
The anti-vaccine climate that is emerging is largely due to “overlapping philosophies and ideologies — a hyperindependence fused with a slightly prickly, ‘don’t tread on me, don’t mess with Texas’ [ideology], with elements of new thought and new-age woo,” Jamie WhealA writer who wrote about his generals is. Be concerned over Austin’s growing anti-vaccine scene, previously told Rolling Stone. Wheal described this type of thought as “not the SJW left. It’s more like the psychedelic alt-left. It’s largely apolitical and hyper individualistic. I’t s a specific thread of uniquely American political spiritual thought, the Great Awakening gone badly sideways.”
The Van Der Beeks form part of a wider group of celebrities and influencers that moved to Austin during pandemic. In interviews with publications like PeopleInviting them to tour your property A 36-acre rustic compoundAlso, get the local magazine Austin LifeVan Der Beeks thought of their move from New York to Austin as a way out of the chaos and turmoil in the city. “We wanted to get the kids out of Los Angeles,” James. “We wanted to give them space and we wanted them to live in nature.”
The Van Der Beeks shared their cross-country van ride to Austin via Instagram. Many were enamored with their rustic van life adventures and decided to follow them. “I thought it was all so adorable,” says Rae, one of Kimberly’s former Instagram followers, who requested her last name be withheld to avoid backlash. “I watched their whole road trip move and all the settling in on their property — I really was hoping for a reality show.”
Rae said that Kimberly began posting more explicit anti-vaccine content since the family moved from Texas to Austin. Kimberly Van Der Beek blocked Rae’s comment on a post that showed the Van Der Beeks hosting an indoors, maskless wedding at their ranch during the pandemic.
“They were so open and honest,”Rae “I admire so many things about them. But I also passionately believe in keeping our neighbors safe.”