Shailene Just Claimed Reports Are ‘Grasping at Straws’ Over Aaron’s Unvaccinated Controversy

Recent reports about Shailene Woodley’s response to Aaron Rodgers‘ “immunized” controversy are being criticized by the actress herself. According to the Big Little Lies star, these reports are simply “grasping at straws.”

News broke on November 3, 2021, that Shailene’s fiancé Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. It was revealed at the time that the Green Bay Packers quarterback—who previously claimed he was “immunized” when asked about his vaccination status during a press conference in August 2021—is actually unvaccinated. Following the reports of Aaron’s diagnosis, multiple sites claimed that Shailene shared a “cryptic” message to her Instagram Story in response to the media backlash over Aaron’s unvaccinated status. The Divergent star, 29, had uploaded a drawing of a woman emerging from the ocean with the moon in the background, with a quote that read, “Calm seas may bring you peace. But storms are where you’ll find your power.” While some sites considered the quote to be Shailene’s subtle way of commenting on her fiancé’s controversy, the actress has hit back at these reports for making “a story out of nothing.”

“Just read somewhere that the media is claiming I deleted an Insta story amid the ‘chaos.’ (An astrology post of all things) (not cryptic at all you dummies.),” Shailene wrote on her Instagram Story. “Do you even know how stories work brah? They self-delete after 24 hours. Literally lol’ing over here over your determination to make a story out of nothing. Grasping at straws my dears.”

Aaron, for his part, responded to the controversy during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on November 5, 2021. “I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now, so before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I’d like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself right now,” the quarterback, 37, said at the time. “First of all, I didn’t lie in the initial press conference. During that time, it was a very — witch hunt that was going on across the league, where everybody in the media was so concerned about who was vaccinated, and who wasn’t, and what that meant, and who was being selfish, and who would talk about it, and what it meant if they said it was a personal decision.”

The NFL star continued, “Had there been a follow-up to my statement that I had been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, ‘Look, I’m not some sort of anti-vax flat-Earther. I am somebody who is a critical thinker.’ You guys know me. I march to the beat of my own drum. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body.” The former Jeopardy! guest host went on to reveal that he decided against getting vaccinated because he’s “allergic” to an ingredient in the Pzifer and Moderna vaccines, though the quarterback did not specify the ingredient in question. He opted against the Johnson and Johnson jab after the shot’s distribution was briefly paused and because he “heard of multiple people who had had adverse events” happen to them after receiving the shot. According to ESPN, the quarterback reportedly petitioned the NFL to give him the same considerations as vaccinated players after he pursued an “alternate treatment” prior to the start of training camp, however, this request was ultimately denied by the league.