Eric Clapton

After receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, Clapton publicly described very severe side effects and said he had feared being unable to play the guitar again. He subsequently extended this personal experience into broader criticism of vaccine communications, which he described as 'propaganda', although public health data generally demonstrated strong vaccine effectiveness against severe illness.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Clapton announced that he would not perform at venues requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination, saying that he did not wish to play for a 'discriminated' audience. The position made him one of the first major international stars to publicly challenge vaccine passports for concerts.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Blues musician Robert Cray, a friend and collaborator of Clapton for decades, withdrew from a planned tour after challenging the comparison with slavery in 'Stand and Deliver' and finding Clapton's responses unconvincing. Their rift formed part of a wider debate reviving Clapton's racist tirade of 1976.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Clapton's German lawyers sued a 55-year-old woman who had listed a bootleg CD of a 1980s concert on eBay for €9.95. The court ruled in Clapton's favour and initially ordered her to pay both parties' costs, triggering a major 'David versus Goliath' controversy. Following the public reaction, Clapton's team announced that he would not seek to recover the costs.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Clapton recorded 'Stand and Deliver' for Van Morrison, a song explicitly opposing public health restrictions. Its lyrics compared compliance with lockdown measures to chains and slavery, an analogy strongly criticised.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

While a friend and collaborator of George Harrison, Clapton fell in love with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd. Letters from 1970 and 1971 show that he explicitly asked whether she still loved her husband or another man and expressed his obsession with her. Boyd and Harrison divorced in 1977, and Boyd married Clapton in 1979.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

During a concert in Birmingham, when reportedly heavily intoxicated, Clapton endorsed Enoch Powell and delivered a racist, anti-immigration tirade including the slogan 'Keep Britain White'. The outrage contributed directly to the founding of Rock Against Racism.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated