“Don’t kill my mom” is a pretty blunt statement, but it’s exactly the plea that Ryan Reynolds has made to young people who are considering partying in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. During an outbreak that poses such a high risk to the elderly, his statement holds plenty of weight, and like many others, he’s crossing his fingers that he’ll be heard.
The statement came as a response to British Columbia Premier John Horgan’s call for the Deadpool actor to speak up and entice young people to avoid partying. Reynolds – who’s also originally from Canada – had the following to say in his lengthy and humorous response:
Premier Horgan, Ryan Reynolds here, I got your message about the thing. I’m not sure it’s a great idea, frankly, I don’t think people want medical advice from guys like me. No sir, unless it’s plastic surgery. Which, a lot of people don’t know this, but I used to be Hugh Jackman. You know, you young folks in B.C., yeah, you’re partying, which is of course dangerous. They probably don’t know that thousands of young people aren’t just getting sick from coronavirus, they’re also dying from it too.
Of course, it’s terrible that it affects our most vulnerable. I mean, B.C. is home to some of the coolest people on Earth. I mean, David Suzuki, he lives there! My mom, she doesn’t want to be cooped up in her apartment all day. She wants to be out there cruising Kitsilano Beach, looking for some young 30-something Abercrombie burnout to go full Mrs. Robinson on. She is insatiable.
Here’s the thing, I hope young people in BC don’t kill my mom. Frankly, or David Suzuki, or each other. Let’s not kill anyone, I think that’s reasonable. I just don’t think I’m the guy to deliver this message. I love parties, my favorite thing to do is sit alone in my room with a glass of gin and the first 32 seasons of Gossip Girl. That’s a party. I threw my shoulder out the last time I did that.
Reynolds isn’t the first celebrity to issue such a request from the nation’s younger generation, of course. Earlier in the outbreak, Arnold Schwarzenegger took to Instagram to implore folks to avoid spring break partying to help mitigate the spread of the virus. It didn’t work out very well, though, as spring break definitely led to an uptick in new cases in various states, but it’s still always nice to see celebrities like Reynolds and Schwarzenegger using their platform to spread awareness.
COVID-19 continues to be an overwhelming threat to the world with 21 million confirmed cases and 762,000 deaths as of this writing. The United States remains the epicenter of the outbreak with nearly 5.5 million cases alone, so here’s to hoping that the consistent pleas from health officials, doctors, politicians and celebrities will convince at least some people to be more careful so that we can beat this thing.
Ryan Reynolds can next be seen in his upcoming film Free Guy, which tells the story of an NPC in a video game that becomes self-aware and sets out to save the game’s world before its developers shut it down. It’s set to release in theaters on December 11th, providing that COVID-19 doesn’t keep cinemas closed and force the film to be delayed again.