Kat Von D denies being an anti-vaxxer and says she made a "mistake"
16 March 2020, 11:39
"The truth is, I'm not an anti-vaxxer at all."
Kat Von D has denied being an anti-vaxxer after she received widespread criticism for saying she wouldn't vaccinate her then-unborn child Leafar Von D Reyes, one, in 2018.
In a now-deleted Instagram post from June 2018, when Kat was pregnant, the tattooist said she would be raising her child vegan and would not be getting them vaccinated. She said: "If you don't know what it's like have people around you think you are ridiculous, try being openly vegan. And, if you don't know what it's like to have the entire world openly criticize, judge, throw uninformed opinions, and curse you – try being an openly pregnant vegan on Instagram, having a natural, drug-free home birth in water with a midwife and doula, who has the intention of raising a vegan child, without vaccinations."
READ MORE: Kat Von D's former brand KVD Vegan Beauty distances themselves by changing official name
Kat received backlash for her comments and some even refused to support her beauty brand, Kat Von D Beauty, which she recently sold. However, Kat now says she was "uninformed" about the issue. Speaking to Los Angeles Times, she said: "When it comes to the vaccine issue, I was six months pregnant at the time, and I was still trying to figure out my birthing plan to have my son.
"And, at the time, I made a completely thoughtless post on my Instagram on whether or not I would vaccinate my son. And, because of it, people think I'm something that I'm not. But the truth is, I'm not an anti-vaxxer at all."
According to the publication, Kat – who previously denied being an anti-vaxxer in a YouTube video in 2019 – had tears in her eyes while speaking about her vaccine controversy. She added: "I just made a mistake, and I was completely uninformed. It was stupid, and I really shouldn't have opened my big mouth on the subject."
Many believed that the backlash Kat received led her to sell her company to Kendo, who changed the name of the brand to KVD Vegan Beauty (Kindness, Vegan Beauty and Discovery…) soon after Kat's departure. However, she says the name "took a lot of compromise on their behalf" and it had nothing to do with her previous scandals, it was purely so she could focus on other projects.
She continued: "We had already been deep in the trenches with lawyer stuff a year prior to this. [Kat Von D Beauty] wasn’t something I could just pass on, just collecting a paycheck [for] signing off on things. I’m so painfully involved in everything and I do tend to micromanage – I’m sure Kendo can vouch for that – but that’s part of what made the brand beautiful. It was something that was hard for me.
"I didn’t want to be deceitful to the public and say, 'Hey, everything’s the same,' when the reality of it is that I’m not going to be involved in any way."
