Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷

This is excellent! Thank you @zackpolanski.bsky.social Another way in the music industry can be supported is with #CleanAir and masked audiences. Musicians are being hugely hit by #Longcovid. I had to step completely away from performing due to the risk and lack of availability of regular up to 🧵

#ProtectTheHeartOfTheArts
@heartofthearts.bsky.social

Update - will be livestreamed on tiktok @serinathecreator, not on Youtube, but will be posted on Youtube later.

Thanks for namechecking @inclusivenew.bsky.social's INN the Arts Group's coproduced good practice framework for safety from airborne infection in the arts (DM for a copy). I certainly can't take all the credit! Looking forward to Serina's play - remarkable for itself modelling good practice.

“Two COVID conscious performances took place in New York. First was ‘Wake Up and Smell the C*VID: An Evening Without Eric Bogosian,‘ produced by Holy Erotic Propaganda Arson (HEPA), based on monologues of how COVID/Long COVID are impacting artists’ lives.”
www.thecanary.co/global/world...

“A Pan***ic Play sits within that international landscape, but it is also a local project with the specific aim to put testimony at the centre of the performance. @heartofthearts.bsky.social spoke with producer Serina Estrada about what it means to stage COVID in 2026.”

“Protect the Heart of the Arts, sounding the alarm on COVID’s impact on the arts, maintains a spreadsheet of celebrity illnesses/deaths. They also distributed Long COVID ribbons at the BAFTAs hosted by David Tennant, after which actor Joanne Froggatt wore one on BBC’s One Show.”

“In the UK, advocacy for clean air in live performance has been growing. Dr. Sally Witcher OBE @salwitcher.bsky.social founder of INN the Arts (“Indoor Safety in the Arts”), has developed a framework of best practices aimed at reducing airborne infection risk in theatres and venues.“

“A Pan***ic Play, produced and performed by Serina Estrada, draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting ‘real, lived experiences‘ of the ongoing pandemic. The production runs 21–22 January at The Art School at 20 Scott St, Glasgow as part of Emergence Festival.”

“For much of the theatre industry, COVID-19 has been treated as a crisis we ‘came through.’ But a new production in Glasgow documents how COVID and Long COVID are shaping people’s lives. It comes amid a wider push for COVID-conscious practices in theatre and live performance.”

A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...

“Perhaps the most famous celebrity mask wearer is Tom Hanks, who was photographed on the NYC subway wearing a face mask.

Hanks clarified on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, ‘I’m doing a play right now so I cannot get sick… I’ve had COVID enough in my life.’” #oneofthetwo

“The WHO lists 7 million COVID‑19 deaths worldwide. However, all‑cause mortality statistics, which estimate pandemic excess deaths based on historical baselines of expected mortality, suggest that the true global toll of COVID range as high as 30 million persons.” #oneofthetwo

“The segment aired in the midst of exponentially increasing COVID-19 infections, long-term illnesses and deaths. SARS‑CoV‑2 transmission is increasing in the US, with the CDC estimating that, as of mid‑December, COVID‑19 infections were increasing in 31 states.” #oneofthetwo

“Because the uncomfortable truth is that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t care if you’re an establishment comedian.

You can’t ‘rebrand’ your way out of vascular damage.

You can’t do a GQ profile that gets your T Cells back.”
#oneofthetwo @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social

“Do you see the hypocrisy?

Because I do.

When I get COVID, it’s like, ‘Holy shit, this is real, this is violent.’

When someone else wears a mask, it’s like, ’Haha, what are you hiding, you little freak?’” #oneofthetwo @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social

“Jon Stewart isn’t the only comedian on a flagship show who has experienced a serious health event since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2023, 6 weeks after his second reported COVID infection, Stephen Colbert was hospitalized with sepsis from acute appendicitis.” #oneofthetwo

“Comedians like Jon Stewart are positioned to see that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the decommissioning of the comedian political class, are symptoms of a wider problem.

This is not a shift of party politics, but rather restructuring towards managed collapse.” #oneofthetwo

“In Aug 2024, Jon Stewart shared that he had contracted COVID.

‘Apologies for last week. I did not do a show because, as a frail old man, I got COVID for the first time and holy shit am I not a fan. So it knocked me on my ass. I was knocked out, feverish for days.’” #oneofthetwo

“Enabling of illness and death is not a byproduct of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but a feature of governance.

When you place Stephen Colbert’s medical emergency and cancellation alongside that political environment, you see previously high‑value icons treated as disposable.”

"Stephen Colbert had an emergency appendectomy weeks after a COVID related show cancellation in 2023.

Accounts like @1goodtern.bsky.social and @meetjess.bsky.social generated 700-1.6k likes for commentary engaging w/ research linking COVID with downstream complications such as acute appendicitis."

“According to The Economist’s global excess deaths tracker, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have killed more than 30 million people worldwide.

COVID killed more people in four years than HIV/AIDS did in 40.“

“If Public Relations can shape public perception of a celebrity, even without direct contact to the content, how might our beliefs about more existential topics have been influenced?

How do we know what we know about the COVID-19 pandemic?“

“There is also an incentive for entertainment outlets and productions to avoid coverage that potentially raises liability concerns. Insurance policies began excluding communicable diseases such as COVID after 2020, meaning a production shutdown could leave a studio exposed.”

“In the 2024 holiday season, Mariah Carey cancelled two of her tour dates. Mainstream coverage attributed this to “flu.” Research from Caltech shows that many COVID‑19 rapid tests produce high rates of false negatives. Many illnesses may in fact be undetected COVID infections.”

“In 2025 alone, Josh Gad withdrew from Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl after contracting COVID. Carlos Santana postponed two tour dates after being hospitalized for dehydration and testing positive for COVID. Rod Stewart cancelled 2 concerts after contracing COVID.”

" @colbertlateshow.bsky.social's own Facebook page promoted the clip as Tom Hanks having ‘mastered his subway disguise,‘ omitting the part where Hanks explicitly said the mask was for COVID prevention.

This echoed the frame of the previous tabloid coverage.”

“Tom Hanks’s remark about wearing a mask for health reasons was amplified across social media. @thesicktimes.org reposted a photo of Hanks in a mask, captioned ‘I’ve had COVID enough in my life.‘ @luckytran.com excerpted Hanks’s line with commentary about masks and COVID prevention.”