American shock jock suggested Fox was exaggerating illness
A right-wing radio host has come under fire in the US after suggesting Michael J Fox had exaggerated his Parkinson’s disease in a TV advert.
Rush Limbaugh initially claimed the star’s shaky appearance on the commercial supporting the campaign for embryonic stem cell research was “purely an act“, adding that he must either have been off his medication or was acting.
Later in his show on Monday he said he would apologise to the Back To The Future actor if he was wrong, and the next day claimed that while Fox was not acting, he was off his drugs.
The 45-year-old shakes and sways uncontrollably as he addresses the camera in the 30-second ad backing Democratic Missouri Senate candidate Claire McCaskill.
“In this commercial, he is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He is moving all around and shaking, and it’s purely an act,” Limbaugh told listeners on Monday.
“This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has.”
He added: “This is really shameless of Michael J Fox. Either he didn’t take his medication or he’s acting, one of the two.”
The broadcaster, whose syndicated show has a weekly audience of about 10 million, went on to concede that people were telling him they had seen the star appearing the same way in interviews.
“All I’m saying is I’ve never seen him the way he appears in this commercial,” he said.
“So I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologise to Michael J Fox, if I am wrong in characterising his behaviour on this commercial as an act.”
At a rally yesterday, Fox alluded to Limbaugh’s remarks, saying: “It’s ironic, given some of the things that have been said in the last couple of days, that my pills are working really well right now.”
His political advisor, John Rogers, branded the radio host’s statement “shameless“.
“It’s insulting,” he told the Washington Post. “It’s appallingly sad, at best.”
Baltimore-based Parkinson’s expert Elaine Richman told the newspaper: “Anyone who knows the disease well would regard his movement as classic severe Parkinson’s disease.
“Any other interpretation is misinformed.”
The advert has been viewed by more than a million people on video-sharing website YouTube.
In it Fox tells voters: “What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans. Americans like me.”
He also appears in ads for two other Democrats who support stem cell research.
The Spin City star was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 and revealed his condition publicly in 1998.
He was forced to quit full-time acting in 2000, founding the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which has raised millions of dollars.
