” within hours his statement , posted on the tribeca film festival is facing serious backlash for including anti - vaccination documentary “ vaxxed : from cover - up to catastrophe ” from doctor - turned - documentarian andrew wakefield into its 2016 lineup .
related anti - vaxxers : the privilege of putting everyone at risk if you 're doing well enough , your bad decisions will probably only hurt someone else “ grace [ hightower , de niro 's wife ] and i have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming .
wakefield ’s bio on the festival ’s page for the documentary mentions the research paper and study but not that it was later discredited .
many called for a response about the festival ’s decision .
last i heard , wakefield was headlining conspira - sea , a seven - day cruise where passengers learn about crop circles , chemtrails , yogic flying , esp and astrology .
in a statement , robert de niro defended the screening of vaxxed : from cover - up to catastrophe while also distancing himself as part of the anti - vaccination movement .
in the 15 years since the tribeca film festival was founded , i have never asked for a film to mr. de niro ’s statement seemed to suggest that this was the first time he has expressed a preference that a particular film be shown at the festival .
“ grace and i have a child with autism , ” he wrote , referring to his wife , grace hightower de niro , “ and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined .
“ grace and i have a child with vaxxed tribeca film festival , i love you but you made a very serious mistake .