Right Said Fred believe they are ‘still cancelled’, several years after saying they were against Covid-19 vaccines.
The pop band consists of Fairbrass brothers Fred, 62, and Richard, 72, who are best known for their 1991 tune I’m Too Sexy.
Outside of music, however, the duo have become controversial figures, with Richard saying in 2021 that anyone who takes the Covid vaccine is ‘foolish’, as it is ‘only for experimental use … there is no long-term data’.
He branded vaccines a ‘scam’ just six months before he was hospitalised with coronavirus himself for four nights, struggling to breathe.
Still, he insisted he would not be getting the jab.
The siblings also spoke out against lockdown restrictions at the time, saying: ‘We either live like hermits and we kill the country we love, or we face up to the fact that some of us are going to die.’
Having been accused of being anti-mask, they defended themselves with the ‘freedom of speech’ argument, attending a protest in Trafalgar Square in September 2020, saying the UK is a ‘strange place’ where ‘there are only certain kinds of speech that are acceptable’.
Now, reflecting on their controversies, the singers have revealed their careers suffered as a result.
‘In Covid, we were cancelled. We’re still cancelled to a degree of it,’ began Richard.
Host André Walker then informed them that, while the show ignored warnings, others have been instructed not to book Right Said Fred for interviews due to their ‘extremist’ and ‘far-right’ views.
‘It’s just so stupid,’ Fred retorted.
‘We had a book; our autobiography was cancelled, about 100 shows, we had a film cancelled, we had about two or three commercials cancelled,’ Richard recalled of the scandal.
Fred added: ‘We lost a lot of money.’
They also said they received ‘death threats’ after stating that they didn’t want vaccines ‘pushed on’ to them.
After a clip from the interview began circulating online, social media users hit back at the performers, suggesting that being ‘cancelled’ is the one thing keeping their names relevant.
‘Their last top ten song was in 1993, but yeah “cancel culture”,’ quipped @notnedjrecneps on X.
@AndyBulFor blasted: ‘Lads – literally nobody asked for a Right Said Fred autobiography or movie. Nobody. It’s not about cancel culture, it’s about you being a novelty act for five minutes 35 years ago.’
@MirandaMcA35265 called them ‘victims of their own stupidity’, while @BonglesBread accused them of spreading ‘vile nonsense’, adding: ‘You can say what you what, run your mouth, but consequence will always find you in the end.’
Speaking in November 2020, Fred insisted that he was ‘not a Covid denier’, nor was he ‘anti-vax’, however, he ‘defends those people’s right to express their opinion’.
‘People can disagree; criticism is part of free speech,’ he added to the BBC about the backlash.
He further argued that the pandemic had taken over: ‘I’m not trying to belittle or downgrade how Covid has affected many people. That’s not what this is about.
‘But you can’t ignore swathes of other conditions and millions of people who also need help and healthcare.’
Meanwhile, Richard told The Sun the following year that it’s ‘fine’ if others wish to get vaccinated, but he felt it was portrayed as a ‘sin’ for him to be ‘cautious’.
This came at a time when numerous conspiracy theories and harmful myths swirled around the Covid vaccines, with critics saying they had been developed ‘too quickly’ and had ‘cut corners’, also concerns they might ‘alter your DNA’ or ‘microchip’ you due to being ‘unsafe’.
However, the NHS has stressed repeatedly that Covid vaccines have ‘met strict standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness’.
‘The safety of the vaccines has been extensively reviewed in both adults and children by the independent Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA),’ it says.
‘The MHRA are continuously monitoring the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines, and reports of serious side effects are very rare.’
On December 31, 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published updated findings, five years on from the first vaccine being administered.
Getting an up-to-date vaccine has proven the most effective way of preventing severe disease from Covid-19.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
