Mr. Morgan Freeman,
Welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
-Thank you so much. -Today was one of those days
when a name trends on Twitter
and people were sent into a frenzy.
Now, I'm sure you know this,
but whenever a name trends on Twitter,
especially when it's a famous name,
people think one of two things has happened:
the person has died,
or the person wishes that they had died.
Today "Morgan Freeman" was trending,
but thank goodness it was neither of the two.
In fact, you're trying to stop people from dying.
(chuckles): Truly.
Absolutely.
No, I'm not dying, and I'm not, uh,
I'm not even thinking about dying
or wishing anything having to do with dying.
The only wishes I have are,
those people who are refusing to take these dadgum shots
would change their minds and realize that this is
one of the things we really have to do.
I don't understand, to tell you the truth,
anyone who has some issues
with the idea of being vaccinated
against this...
scourge.
You know? The facts are in.
We know that...
all of those dead people are dead and why they're dead.
They, you know, they didn't get hit by trucks or anything.
It's this... this pandemic.
So yeah, I would recommend, I recommend highly:
go get the freakin' shots.
But if you don't, it's really up to you.
Except that now I have to avoid you.
And I will, of course.
I still wear a mask, and I...
social distancing-- all right, so they say down to three feet.
All right, four.
Uh... (laughs)
I'll do my part.
And, uh, I don't know, I mean, everybody, including the butler,
are encouraging, or trying to encourage people
to... do what they're...
It's not an instruction, it's just a suggestion
-that they're making. -It's a suggestion
for people's well-being.
It's... You know what I...
what I enjoyed about your PSA is,
you come out acknowledging the obvious.
You say, "I'm not a doctor. You go like, "I'm not a doctor,
"and I know that a lot of people don't trust right now,
but a lot of people trust me."
And it's interesting that you say that,
because, you know, as Morgan Freeman,
you don't just lend your voice to things, you know?
You're someone who people have come to trust and know
as a genuine human being.
And so I wonder, I wonder if you have an idea,
when looking through the hesitancy towards the vaccine,
why you think there's such a big gap
between the older generation getting it-- because,
as I'm seeing, older people are generally more inclined
to get the vaccine, and younger people are just like,
"Aah, I don't... I don't know about this."
Well, there may have been a mistake
in the early stages of this,
because they've cautioned all of the older people
that you are much more susceptible to this
than younger people might be.
So younger people may just take that
and, you know, run to the woods with it.
"Oh, I'm good. I don't have to worry about it."
They're just getting younger and younger, into...
Because we're, you know, we're still thinking it's...
oh, it's over now-- it's not over, y'all, it's not over.
Right. Right.
Um, when Morgan Freeman is trying to convince people
to do something that is in their best interest...
I mean, it feels like we're in a weird place in society,
because, you know, we talk about this pandemic,
we talk about the long-term effects,
that people don't seem to realize enough of.
You know, yes, there are the people who have died,
and it's tragic, but a lot of people are gonna have
long-term effects from COVID,
whether it's decreased lung capacity,
whether it's issues with their organs--
there's so many of these things.
What does it tell you about the world
when we need to get Morgan Freeman to convince people
to do something that is good for themselves?
That's a mistake. I don't think Morgan Freeman
can convince anybody to do anything.
People who have decided that, uh, their best interest
is, uh, taking the vaccination, that's a decision they make.
I don't think anybody of any...
supposed note...
has to go out of their way to try and convince them.
Uh, I heard yesterday people saying
that, well, there are a lot of Black people
who, uh, just don't trust them,
because of the, um, Tuskegee experiment.
-Right. -Horse pucky.
I don't believe that.
That's ridiculous, you know?
This is a whole new world, a whole new society,
a whole new group of... of people.
And this thing here is for real.
It's not something somebody made up as a test
to see how we will react to it, you know what I'm saying?
So what do you say to the people who now go,
"Oh, Morgan Freeman, you've joined this, um,
"secret elite group who want to put microchips in the people"?
Do you ever worry about that? Because, I mean,
like, everything has become politicized.
Morgan Freeman is not politicized.
Do you ever worry about that, or do you just go like, "Hey, man,
"I'm just gonna speak my piece,
and then you guys do with it as you please"?
That's exactly it.
Hey, man, I'm trying to speak my piece,
"stay above the ground.
Uh, you do what you got to do, I'll do what I got to do."
And I suppose one of the things that I have to do
is say to you-- those--
get the shot.
Help protect me.
(chuckles)
Get the shot. Help protect Morgan Freeman.
I feel like that would convince people.
Get the shot. Help protect Morgan Freeman.
Uh, before I let you go, what do you plan to do
when the world opens up again?
I mean, everybody's been locked down.
You know, you used to travel the world,
whether it was for your movies or just for life--
what does Morgan Freeman plan to do
when the world opens again?
Go to work, for one thing.
And eat out, for, uh, the other.
-Eat out. -My companion cooks...
Yeah, I mean, I eat twice a day,
and she cooks every meal, just about.
And she'd like a little rest, a little break.
(Noah laughs)
I think everybody would, sir.
Um, thank you for the time. Thank you for the message.
And, um, yeah, maybe the people will be convinced,
and maybe they won't-- either way,
we'll get the vaccine,
and then we'll see what happens from there.
Thank you so much, Mr. Morgan Freeman.
Thank you, man. Bless you. Take care.