Madonna twice posted a video of doctors supporting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a 'cure' for the novel coronavirus after it was retweeted by President Trump before being removed for 'misinformation' by Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.
The pop star seemed to ignore the warnings of falsehoods in the video and was slammed by fans on Tuesday.
Madonna, 61, showed support for the doctors shown in the video, including Dr. Stella Immanuel who has a history of believing in satanic plots and that endometriosis is caused by 'sex demons' among other outlandish claims.
Promoting conspiracy theories: Madonna seemed to ignore the warnings of falsities as she shared a video promoting a coronavirus conspiracy theory 'cure' and posted it twice on social media, once after it was removed, on Tuesday (pictured in 2018)
She shared the videos of doctors describing the malaria drug as a 'cure' for COVID-19 to her 15.4 million followers.
'The Truth will set us all Free,' she wrote. 'But some people dont want to hear the truth.'
Instagram included a 'false information warning,' before the video could be viewed on her channel, adding it was 'Reviewed by independent fact-checkers.'
In the video, a group of doctors who identified themselves as America's Frontline Doctors claim the drug is a 'cure' for the virus and a preventative measure.
The World Health Organization has said 'there is currently no proof' that hydroxychloroquine is a treatment for a preventative measure against the novel coronavirus.
What she said: She shared the videos of doctors describing the malaria drug as a 'cure' for COVID-19 to her 15.4 million followers. 'The Truth will set us all Free,' she wrote. 'But some people dont want to hear the truth'
Unsubstantiated claims: In the video, a group of doctors who identified themselves as America's Frontline Doctors claim the drug is a 'cure' for the virus and a preventative measure (Stella Immanuel shown in the video)
The WHO continued to say 'The misuse of hydroxychloroquine can cause serious side effects and illness and even lead to death.'
In her caption, Madonna continued: 'Especially the people in power who stand to make money from this long drawn out search for a vaccine Which has been proven and has been available for months.'
Adding: 'They would rather let fear control them and let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker.'
Facts: The World Health Organization has said 'there is currently no proof' that hydroxychloroquine is a treatment for a preventative measure against the novel coronavirus. The WHO continued to say 'The misuse of hydroxychloroquine can cause serious side effects and illness and even lead to death (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization pictured in February)
Slammed: Madonna went on to say that Doctor Stella Immanuel 'is my hero thank you Stella Immanuel,' many fans commented on her post pointing out the falsities included and slamming her for sharing a conspiracy theory
The video was pushed by right-wing site Breitbart, and went on to be viewed millions of times before it was taken down by Twitter, Youtube Facebook and subsidiary Instagram due to 'false information.'
'Tweets with the video are in violation of our Covid-19 misinformation policy. We are taking action in line with our policy here,' Twitter told BBC. While Facebook said 'We've removed this video for sharing false information about cures and treatments for Covid-19.'
President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. had his Twitter account suspended after sharing the video and promoting the conspiracy theory.
Bizarre: As well as making unsubstantiated claims that the drug is effective against the coronavirus, in the video, Immanuel also said 'You don't need masks. There is a cure. I know they don't want to open schools. No, you don't need people to be locked down. There is prevention and there is a cure.' Among other bizarre claims (Immanuel pictured)
Madonna went on to say that Doctor Stella Immanuel 'is my hero thank you Stella Immanuel,' many fans commented on her post pointing out the falsities included and slamming her for sharing a conspiracy theory.
As well as making unsubstantiated claims that the drug is effective against the coronavirus, in the video, Immanuel also said 'You don't need masks. There is a cure. I know they don't want to open schools. No, you don't need people to be locked down. There is prevention and there is a cure.'
After the video went viral, people dug up other bizarre claims made my Immanuel that include believing in alien DNA is being used in medical treatment, that endometriosis is caused by having sex dreams with demons and witches and that homosexuality is the 'agenda of the devil.'
President Trump, who has touted the alleged benefits of hydroxychloroquine and took the drug himself for 14 days, defended the doctor on Tuesday.
'She was on air along with many other doctors,' he said. 'They were big fans of hydroxychloroquine. And I thought she was very impressive in the sense that from where she came - I don't know which country she comes from - but she says she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients and I thought her voice was an important voice but I know nothing about her.'
He said on Tuesday that 'many doctors' think hydroxychloroquine is successful.
'Many doctors think it is extremely successful,' he said. 'The hydroxychloroquine coupled with the z-pack. And some some people think it's become political. I took it for a 14-day period. And I'm here. I think it works in the early stages. I think front line medical people believe that too. Some. Many. So we'll take a look at it.
'The one thing we know. It's been out for a long time, that particular formula and that's essentially what it is, the pill, and it's been for malaria, lupus and other things,' Trump said. 'It's safe. It doesn't cause problems. I had no problem. I had absolutely no problem. Felt no different. Didn't feel good, bad or indifferent.'
In his Monday Twitter spree Trump retweeted a video of Immanuel claiming hydroxychloroquine works in battling the virus, which has infected more than 4.42 million and killed more than 151,000 Americans.
Video of her fiery speech was shared on Twitter where it racked up over 14 million views on Monday, partly due to the promotion by far-right news organizations, but Twitter later took it down.
Facebook and YouTube also began to pull down videos of her claims, claiming it's spreading misinformation about the pandemic.
Immanuel demanded the social media platforms reupload her videos after they were taken down for spreading disinformation. She claimed God would crash their computers if they did not repost her speech.
'Hello Facebook put back my profile page and videos up or your computers with start crashing till you do. You are not bigger that God. I promise you. If my page is not back up face book will be down in Jesus name,' Immanuel said in a mistake-littered tweet Monday night.
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