Dennis Quaid Pushes Back Against Critics of COVID-19 PSA: ‘It Was in No Way Political’

Dennis Quaid is speaking out after facing backlash for his involvement in an alleged $300 million federal public service campaign about COVID-19. The campaign, first reported on by Politico, is reportedly an effort by the White House to “defeat despair” in the country and boost opinion on President Donald Trump‘s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an Instagram video titled “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPOLITICIZED,” the actor on Saturday hit back at “cancel culture media” and denied having been paid for the public service announcement. He said that he feels “some outrage and a lot of disappointment” from the media’s reporting of the video, as some have suggested that he “was doing a campaign ad and endorsement” for Trump and “was paid handsomely for this by diverted CDC fund.” Quaid said that “nothing could be further from the truth.”

“What I was doing, I did a PSA for Dr. Anthony Fauci and he was kind enough to grant me an interview as well, and the interview and the PSA were about raising awareness of COVID-19 and what we can still do to prevent lives being lost to this terrible, terrible virus,” Quaid explained. “It was about the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing and it was in no way political. In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci and I both talked about it before that it was not to be political, as the virus is not political. I was not paid one penny for doing this interview and nether was Dr. Anthony Fauci.”

The actor went on to state that he is “really disappointed” in the way that some are reporting on the ad, stating, “some people who call themselves legitimate reporters don’t do their homework.” He directed his followers to his podcast, the Dennaissance Podcast, where they can listen to the interview in full, as “whoever wrote this story obviously didn’t listen to the interview.”

Quaid’s address came after he faced an influx of social media backlash following Politco‘s report, which alleged that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directed 300 million of CDC funds on the campaign. The outlet reported that the ad had been ordered by the president with the purpose of defeating “despair” caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The interviews, the report claimed, include conversations with Quaid, gospel singer CeCe Winans, and administration officials and will air on Nov. 3. The campaign is reportedly under investigation by Democrats.