Child star of the '80s Ricky Schroder was part of a group of anti-vaccine protesters who accused the Foo Fighters of "segregation and discrimination" for playing a show that required attendees to show proof of vaccination.
Former sitcom actor Schroder and several dozen others gathered outside the band's intimate show at the Canyon Club in California on June 15 (local time), holding signs that read "Foo Fighters to bring segregation back" and "COVID-19 vaccine makers are exempt from liability".
According to Variety, Schroder shared his anger at the concert's vaccine requirements on social media two days earlier, dubbing Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl an "ignorant punk" alongside a doctored image of the rocker holding a syringe.
"[He] needs to be slapped for supporting discrimination," Schroder wrote.
"Ignorance comes in all shapes and sizes. Kurt Cobain is laughing at you Dave along with millions of patriots... Fool."
Grohl and his band publicly expressed their support for the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines when they performed at Global Citizen's Vax Live concert, which raised over US$300 million in aid of vaccine distribution.
The Foo Fighters are set to perform the first post-pandemic show at Madison Square Garden this weekend, where attendees will also be required to show proof of vaccination.
At the time of writing, more than 2.26 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, with approximately 480 million people now fully vaccinated.
According to a Washington Post analysis, states in the US with higher vaccination rates are reporting markedly fewer coronavirus cases, while those where fewer residents have been immunised have significantly higher hospitalisation figures.
Across the US, 43 percent of eligible Americans are already fully vaccinated, and the country is now averaging less than 16,000 new infections a day - the lowest numbers since March 2020.
