Evangeline Lilly's 'Lost' co-star calls her out for refusing to social distance: 'Please rethink this'
Evangeline Lilly’s proclamation that the coronavirus is a hoax and she won’t be self-isolating received much criticism, now including from one of her Lost co-stars.
Maggie Grace, who played Shannon Rutherford on the first two seasons of the ABC show, commented on Freckles’s post expressing “concern” over her message and asking her to “have some compassion” for those most at risk. Grace also advised Lilly to talk to their other former Lost castmate Daniel Dae Kim, who is recovering from COVID-19.
“Hey there, I read your pre-edit post and find it concerning,” Grace wrote. “There’s no need to panic, but at the same time this is about all of us — the vulnerable, the immunocompromised, older folks.”
She continued, “Sure, it’s a free country, but how about choosing to exercise some of that wonderful freedom to have some compassion, trust the extensive science here and not overwhelm [the] health system. No doctor should have to choose which patients get life-saving care and which patients get sent home to die — the sort of triage that is tragically happening in Italy right now.”
Period. pic.twitter.com/ulWA3gmFe5
— LOST (@TheLOSTFans) March 24, 2020
Grace asked Lilly to “think about how these small decisions effect your dad” — as Lilly’s father, who is living with her, is battling cancer — “and those in your community as ventilators run out? and as you use your influence on such a large group of other people.” (The Ant-Man actress has 2.3 million Instagram followers, 284K Twitter followers and 519K on Facebook.)
Grace concluded by writing, “I say this with all humility, please rethink this. Your kids will be just fine without going to gymnastics, I promise.” She then added the P.S.: “Daniel [Dae Kim] said he is doing much better btw. I don’t know, maybe you guys wanna chat?” (Kim is recovering from COVID-19 in Hawaii after contracting it in NYC.)
The Hawaii-based Lilly shared her post, the caption of which she has since edited, on March 16. She dismissed the coronavirus as "respiratory flu” and said it's business as usual in her house as she dropped her kids off at gymnastics camp. She said being asked to stay home and self-isolate to flatten the curve “feels a lot too close to Marshall Law [sic] for my comfort already.” She wrote:” Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices.” She also suggested it was a political conspiracy theory, writing, “There’s ‘something’ every election year.”
Lilly has faced criticism for her comments. Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner seemingly reacted to Lilly’s comments in her own Instagram post, saying, “I don’t give a f**k about your freedom. You could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you, by doing this. So stay inside, guys. It’s not cool and it’s not big and it’s not clever. And that’s the tea.”
Actor Billy Baldwin commented on Lilly’s post writing, “Fine if you value [your] freedom over your life... Not cool at all if you value your freedom over all other lives.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Grace announced she’s pregnant with her first child. According to the CDC, it is unknown at this time if COVID-19 would cause problems during pregnancy or affect the health of the baby after birth. So many pregnant women are taking extra care, at the advice of doctors, as The View’s Meghan McCain, who just announced her pregnancy, is doing by working from home and staying home.
For the latest news on the evolving coronavirus outbreak, follow along here. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.
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