Instagram | @idriselba

Idris Elba Responds To Cardi B's 'Stupid' Claim That Celebrities Are Paid To Say They Have Coronavirus

Updated September 5, 2021

There is a lot of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, and celebrities are not above the pull of conspiracy theories or other wrong facts.

Information about the coronavirus pandemic is rapidly changing and Diply is committed to providing the most recent data as it becomes available. Some of the information in this story may have changed since publication, and we encourage readers to use online resources from CDC and WHO to stay up to date on the latest information surrounding COVID-19.

Rapper Cardi B in a lengthy Instagram video shared her theory that celebrities saying they had been tested sounded like a sales pitch.

Instagram | @iamcardib

“I’m starting to feel like y’all paying [expletive] to say that they got it,” she claimed in the video, in which she was wearing a face mask. “If y’all are paying [expletive] to say that they got it, pay me too.”

Idris Elba, an actor, seemed to take this personally, as he recently uploaded a video confirming his own positive diagnosis.

In a video on Twitter, Idris explained, "I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus," which had many feeling that it was unfair that Idris received a test despite showing no symptoms when others with symptoms are being turned back from tests.

"I think that the negativity around test-shaming is counterproductive. I don’t see what people get out of that," Idris said on Instagram in response to these feelings.

Instagram | @idriselba

"And also this idea that someone like myself is gonna be paid to say I’ve got coronavirus? That’s absolute [expletive]. Such stupidness. People want to spread that as if it's news," Idris responded to Cardi's claim on Instagram Live.

"That’s stupid," he continued.

Instagram | @idriselba

"It’s the quickest way to get people sick because there’s no benefit to me and Sabrina sitting here saying we’ve got it or we ain’t got it. I don’t even understand the logic of that,” he concluded.

It seems that Idris has put a rest to that rumor, although Cardi has not yet responded.