Novak Djokovic during the Davis Cup Finals at Madrid Arena on December 03, 2021. (Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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The Australian government’s bungled response to Djokovic’s efforts to circumvent vaccine restrictions has played right into the hands of conspiracy theorists.“There’s no doubt that the enduring saga and attention it has received has played a role in turning this into something that’s being framed as a ‘COVID safety versus freedom of choice’ battle, when in reality that would be a massive oversimplification of the whole situation,” Backovic added.
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The world’s top-ranked tennis star was granted a medical exemption for the Australian Open on the basis that he’d tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time on Dec. 16. But the 34-year-old was seen not wearing a mask or practicing social distancing at a ceremony at the Novak Tennis Centre in Belgrade, which took place on Dec. 17. When asked about this at a press conference on Monday, Djokovic’s brother brought the conference to an end.
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And Jelena Djokovic appears to share her husband’s conspiratorial thinking, posting a message on Instagram this week that suggested the rollout of 5G was somehow responsible for the spread of the virus—a years-old conspiracy theory that’s been thoroughly debunked.But even before COVID came along, Djokovic had a history of spouting anti-science opinions.“You have this thing called telepathy, right? Or this thing called telekinesis, or instinct, intuition. I feel like [these] are the gifts from this higher order, the source, the god, whatever, that allows us to understand the higher power and higher order in ourselves,” he told Shortlist magazine in 2018.During lockdown, Djokovic spent some of his time publishing a web series called “The Self Mastery Project,” for which he interviewed a series of wellness and self-help figures, many of whom have spread conspiracy theories.
During one show, Djokovic floated the idea that people can change the makeup of food and water with their thoughts and emotions.“I’ve seen people and I know some people that, through that energetical transformation, through the power of prayer, through the power of gratitude, they manage to turn the most toxic food or the most polluted water into the most healing water,” Djokovic said, adding that “because water reacts and scientists have proven that, that molecules in the water react to our emotions, to what is being said.”Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.