Earlier this week, Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill, a Canadian physician who has stirred controversy with her COVID-19 assertions, reached out to entrepreneurial magnate, Elon Musk, with an appeal for financial assistance.
Formerly chastised by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for her audacious tweets concerning COVID-19, the Brampton-based pediatrics specialist now finds her legal bills funded wholly by none other than Musk’s own enterprise, X. On a Sunday morning post to the X News account, the entity formerly known as Twitter expressed a firm stance in supporting Gill, noting that it was “proud to defend” the medical professional amidst what the company perceived as “government-supported efforts to cancel her speech.”
The mammoth controversy stems from Gill’s tweets in 2021, in which she boldly asserted that vaccination for COVID-19 was unnecessary. This audacious statement prompted the Ontario regulatory body to administer a cautionary response, a matter that has not quelled the feisty spirit of the good doctor.
Moreover, Gill has found herself at the center of a crowdfunding venture aimed at raising $300,000 to offset her legal costs. Part of these costs includes a price-tag for a lawsuit she launched against what she referred to as a “malicious online smear campaign.” Her professional regulator opted not to subject her to a disciplinary hearing, deciding to halt proceedings last month.
A recent post from Gill caught the attention of Musk, indicating that she was under the burden of an impending $300,000 due in a mere four days. To the doctor’s surprise and relief, her plea did not fall on deaf ears. Musk made a commitment, not only to cover the remainder of her crowdfunding campaign but also to support her appeal against the College’s 2021 cautions.
Dr. Gill’s frank expressions concerning the virus, including her conviction that most people are naturally immune to COVID-19 and her denial of scientific grounds for enforcing stay-at-home measures, have stirred the pot of public discourse. One thing is clear, though – the embattled physician has found an unlikely ally in Elon Musk, demonstrating, perhaps, that even amongst the most heated disputes, alliances can still be forged.
