Michelle Pfeiffer launches extraordinary attack on Bill Gates and suggests he'll contaminate America's food supply
In an extraordinarily rare move for the low-key Oscar winner, Pfeiffer took to Instagram on Thursday to express concern over the FDA 's approval of Apeel, a Gates-backed food coating meant to extend the shelf life of produce.
'Apeel (an edible, plant-based coating designed to extend the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables) was just approved and now "organic" produce is coated in something we cannot see or wash off,' Pfeiffer wrote.
'Very concerning.'
The Scarface star, 67, wrote the message as she shared a video that claimed 'organic produce is no longer safe' after 'Bill Gates' Apeel just approved for USDA-certified organic.'
Apeel has long been mired in controversy over its ingredients and associated with Gates.
The company received early developmental support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012 and again in 2015.
However, the Gates' currently have no involvement in Apeel.
Pfeiffer's comments might come as a shock to her fans, as the Batman Returns icon is famed for living a quiet life and avoiding the type of controversial declarations often made by many of her Hollywood peers.
Despite Pfeiffer's comments, Apeel claims on its website that their coatings can be washed by rinsing the produce with water and scrubbing it.
Apeel uses plant lipids or plant oils naturally found in fruits and vegetables and creates a coating applied 'to the surface of fresh fruits and vegetables in order to retain moisture and reduce oxidation,' Jenny Du, co-founder of Apeel and senior vice president of operations told the Associated press
'Our product is also intended to be edible.''
The coating consists of purified monoglycerides and diglycerides, which Du pointed out are also found in products such as infant formula.
The company has said their coating technology can help reduce post-harvest food waste in developing countries and is ultimately aimed at combatting famine and hunger.
Gates has found himself mired in multiple controversies in recent years.
An outlandish conspiracy theory that circulated at the height of the COVID pandemic claimed he had secreted 5G microchips inside COVID vaccines.
There's no evidence to support such claims and The Gates Foundation dismissed them as nonsense.
More damagingly, Gates has faced prolonged heat over his friendship with the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Melinda cited that closeness as part of the reason she divorced her husband.
Bill has said he deeply regrets making friends with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, and there has never been any suggestion of wrongdoing on his part.
Pfeiffer's warning about Apeel comes as she has been promoting a new project with Elle Fanning.
The two play a mother-daughter duo on the forthcoming AppleTV+ series Margo's Got Money Troubles.
The actress has been married to writer and producer David E. Kelley, 69, for 31 years and they're working together on the project.
The show is based on Rufi Thorpe's novel of the same name. Kelley created the eight-part show with A24.
Pfeiffer, Fanning and Nicole Kidman (who also has an acting role in the show) are executive producing.
Fanning portrays Margo Millet, the daughter of a Hooters waitress, played Pfeiffer, and a former professional wrestler, played by Nick Offerman.
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'I have got no idea how Rob has managed to read so much in his lifetime, it feels as if he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of almost every period in history.' If Ineson was never prepared, post-Office, to give in to being typecast as a wanker, he's pretty comfortable with being a supervillain. 'I think with my size, face and voice, 90% of the time I've been on the bad guy side of the line anyway. I would be fighting a losing battle if I was trying to get myself into romcoms. Some things are beyond the realms of casting.' If The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a turning point, the difference is mainly one of scale. 'Although I've been involved with big films before, I've never played a character that is this important to the film and the franchise,' he says, with an amount of trepidation. It's true – there are other people in the movie (Pedro Pascal! Vanessa Kirby!), but if the villain doesn't work, nothing does. 'So if it doesn't make a profit, it's my fault? Is that what you're saying?', he says, mock petrified. The film is already doing fine at the box office. He should relax.
