Rob Schneider's Rise and Fall

Rob Schneider was once considered a comedic heavyweight but has now become well-known for sharing wild conspiracy theories on social media.

The 60-year-old comedian was a stalwart of the early 2000s comedic movie scene, starring in films such as The Hot Chick, Grownups and 50 First Dates. While his acting career might no longer be considered as successful as it once was, that doesn't mean he's stopped receiving media attention.

Once best known for being a Saturday Night Live alum, these days, he often makes the news for being an anti-vaxxer and for his opinions on a variety of social and political matters. A longtime opponent of childhood vaccinations, Schneider switched his support from the Democrats to the Republicans before declaring himself an "independent." While some people might be surprised by this change, Schneider's shift to the right was far less abrupt than it may appear.

He has been accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines on social media and has also used the platform to express his opposition to the wearing of masks.

Here Newsweek details the various controversies Schneider has been involved in over the years, as well as the opinions he's made known to the public.

Newsweek contacted a representative for Schneider via email on January 26 for comment.

Long-Time Anti-Vaxxer

Back in 2012, he spoke at a protest against AB2019, a California bill requiring parents to get a doctor's signature if they choose not to immunize their kids.

"Governor Brown, this is a bad piece of legislation. Governor Brown, veto this bill. You can do it; veto this bill," Schneider said, addressing then-California Governor Jerry Brown. "At a certain point, you have to draw a line in the sand, and people have to put their hands up and be counted for."

At a hearing for the bill, the Big Stan actor spoke to ABC News affiliate KXTV, according to East Idaho News, and said he believed that it was "illegal" to require informed consent to opt out of childhood vaccinations.

Schneider also alleged that there's a link between childhood vaccinations and the rise in autism.

"The toxicity of these things—we're having more and more side effects. We're having more and more autism," he said.

Any link between childhood immunizations and autism has been repeatedly discredited by medical professionals.

In 2014 Schneider's anti-vax views got him into trouble again when the insurance company State Farm pulled one of its commercials featuring the actor. In the ad, Schneider reprised his popular "Copy Guy" character from his time on Saturday Night Live but it received backlash because of Schneider's opposition to child vaccinations.

"This particular ad has unintentionally been used as a platform for discussion, unrelated to the products and services we provide," the company told The Hollywood Reporter. "With that, we are working to remove the ad from our rotation at this time."

In response, Schneider quoted George Washington to suggest his freedom of speech was being infringed.

"Thanks to all my supporters who believe as I do that parents should decide what's in the best interests of their child, not Gov't mandates," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

He added: "'If the Freedom of Speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter,' George Washington."

Both tweets have since been deleted.

Schneider's aversion to vaccinations doesn't end there. In 2019 he criticized then-politican Lorena Gonzalez over SB 276, a bill that further limits vaccine exemptions without approval from a medical provider.

Schneider challenged Gonzalez—who coauthored a 2015 bill eliminating personal beliefs vaccine exemptions—to a debate in a tweet that has since been deleted.

"Respectfully, Either accept my offer to debate you on the merits of sb276 or refuse and kill this awful piece of Government OverReach and admit that the PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN and want to KEEP MEDICAL DECISIONS MADE BY PARENTS NOT FACELESS BUREAUCRATS," he posted to X. The bill was signed into law a few months later.

The COVID-19 outbreak appeared to further radicalize Schneider, and in July 2021, he dissuaded his followers from getting vaccinated. He posted on X: "Just say no… And keep saying no… Over Half of the US population is continuing to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy! 'My body, my choice!'"

In November 2023 he was criticized online when he weighed in on Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, appearing in a Pfizer commercial encouraging people to get a "twofer"—a COVID-19 shot and flu shot at the same time.

Posting to X, Schneider linked an article from The Epoch Times. He wrote: "Dear Travis Kelce, did you know the @Pfizer drug you are pimping has been found to really hurt A LOT OF PEOPLE?!" 'Nearly 1 in 3 COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients Suffered Neurological Side Effects:' - Study."

People were quick to condemn Schneider's comment, pointing out that the article he linked from The Epoch Times was biased as it is a far-right newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement.

Wavering Political Beliefs

It's not only on vaccinations that Schneider has made his opinions known. In 2013, he endorsed then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, a former member of the anti-immigrant Minutemen border patrol group and an outspoken gun rights advocate. In a video uploaded to Donnelly's YouTube account, the comedian explained why he was endorsing the politician for Governor of California.

"As a lifelong Democrat, I am horrified by what's happened to the state with the supermajority of Democrats and now in the legislature of California. If the Democrats of my party have abandoned me and so I abandoned them," Schneider said.

"And it's not about being a Republican, it's not about being a Democrat, it's not being conservative or being a liberal it's not about being a show business person or a business person it's about doing and thinking about what's best for the state of California," he said.

Schneider has seemed to flip-flop when it comes to his opinion of Donald Trump over the years. In response to Trump's proposal to build a wall to stop immigration from Mexico, the comedian attacked him in a 2015 Facebook post.

"Dear Donald Trump, one thing I've learned from marrying a Mexican woman and having a Mexican suegra [mother-in-law] is DON'T P*** OFF MEXICANS!" it read.

Four years later in an interview with Irish public service broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, he continued his derision of Trump, saying: "You know, I can think of 10,000 people I would prefer to be president than Donald Trump, but we didn't get 10,000 choices, we got two—so I try to break it down and understand the choice that was made."

However, Schneider's opinion seemed to change, as during his June 2023 stand-up comedy special Rob Schneider: Woke Up in America he revealed he voted for Trump in 2016, and claimed to have done so multiple times.

"First of all, it was in California, and I was writing on my kitchen counter—I had the ballot because, you know, in California, they mail you like 100 of them," he said. "I was just filling them out. Not all of them. I'm not an a******, but you know three or four... five at the most."

In the same month, Schneider announced he was endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of JFK's brother Robert F. Kennedy, who served as attorney general from 1961 to 1964. Known by his initials of RFK Jr., the 69-year-old originally entered the Democratic presidential primaries. However, he has since decided to run as an independent candidate.

In December of that year, Schneider also faced criticism on social media after delivering a speech geared toward MAGA (Make America Great) supporters about the state of the U.S. as he sees it.

The comedian was one of several conservative public figures who made an appearance at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest, a four-day event that took place in Phoenix, Arizona.

During his speech, he introduced himself to the crowd as "a traditional liberal, which apparently makes me a right-winger these days. Traditional liberalism, women's rights, gay rights, civil rights, not judging the person by the color of their skin, free speech, these are now conservative values."

Support and Disdain for Celebrities

In 2019 Schneider defended fellow comedians Kevin Hart and Louis CK in a slew of posts on X. He showed his support for Hart when the comedian pulled out of hosting the Oscars after tweets from 2009 to 2010 in which he used homophobic slurs were unearthed.

Schneider argued that Hart should be reinstated as the host, writing: "I support @TheEllenShow supporting @KevinHart4real. Comics are the ones who are supposed to say the horrible things we all think but don't."

He also spoke out in support of Louis CK as well, who joked about the Parkland shooting survivors in a leaked set.

"FREE LOUIE CK!! JOKES ARE WORDS YOU F****** MORON C****!!" Schneider posted.

Both of these tweets have since been deleted.

Schneider doesn't shy away from also hitting out at public figures he disagrees with, such as country singer Garth Brooks and actor Susan Sarandon.

In November he took aim at Sarandon on X after the actress made pro-Palestinian remarks at a rally in New York City.

"There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country," Sarandon said at the event.

"America offers unparalleled freedoms to practice your religion and afford you the opportunity to live your life's dreams," Schneider, whose father was Jewish, wrote. "But there are out of touch people like Susan Sarandon. Her anti-Jewish comments are regrettable."

He also suggested that Brooks should stay out of sensitive debates in the future after a faction of MAGA Republicans vowed to stop listening to Brooks' music over his willingness to stock Bud Light at his bar.

Bud Light and other brands under the parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, have been boycotted since early April after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney was sent a personalized can of beer.

"I think the culture is in a very weird little place of hypersensitivity one way or the other. And I think that's why most people shut their mouths. I mean, just from a business standpoint, just shut up, say 'I have nothing to do with it,'" Schneider told Fox News.

"I'm just as susceptible as Garth—ego. You know, he had to put this in, 'Well, I think that, you know, I'm a good person because I did...' And it's like, shut up," he said.