Rapper Ice Cube on refusing COVID vaccine: 'Your health is worth more than all the money in the world'

 Rapper and actor Ice Cube recently sat down for an interview with Piers Morgan on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" and discussed his decision not to take the COVID vaccine, even though doing so cost him millions of dollars.

In 2021, O'Shea Jackson Sr., better known as Ice Cube, was scheduled to star in the comedy movie "Oh Hell Nah," now titled "Stepdude," alongside Jack Black. However, the role offer worth $9 million was reportedly rescinded after Ice Cube refused to take the COVID vaccine. "Those motherf*****s didn’t give it to me because I wouldn’t get the shot. I didn’t turn it down," Ice Cube said on a podcast last November. "They just wouldn’t give it to me. The COVID shot, the jab … I didn’t need it. I didn’t catch that s*** at all. Nothing. F*** them. I didn’t need that s***." 

In an interview released on Monday, Ice Cube told Morgan that he has "not one regret" about turning down the role or the $9 million. "I felt like your health is worth more than all the money in the world," Ice Cube explained, "because if you had all the money in the world and you wasn’t healthy, you would use that money to get healthy." 

Though Ice Cube refused the COVID vaccine, he is not against vaccines in general. "I'm vaccinated," he said, referring to common childhood vaccines. However, he believes the vaccines most people receive as children "have been tested for decades" and that "most side effects" for those vaccines are already well known. By contrast, he called the COVID shot "an experimental drug" with unknown "long-term effects."

He also suggested that, unlike him, the "pharmaceutical companies" associated with the shots are motivated by money and not improving people's health. "It’s kind of like the war machine," Ice Cube said. "You know, if you make the bullets and the band aids, you gonna always wanna be in war. Because it’s profitable."

Morgan seemed to agree, claiming that taking the COVID vaccine should have been a matter of personal choice once it became clear that the vaccine did not prevent transmission. "Once it was established against what they initially thought," Morgan said, "that you could still transmit the virus whether you were vaccinated or not, to me, it becomes a personal choice. It’s down to you."

During the interview with Morgan, Ice Cube wore a hat to promote Big3, a 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube and featuring former NBA players. Royce White, who regularly appears on "Fearless" with Jason Whitlock, recently appeared in a Big3 game with the words "Trump won!" written on the side of his head.