When he's not busy DJing, Calvin Harris has apparently been studying up on medicine. At least that's what one might assume based on the confidence with which he shares his supposed medical knowledge. Last week, he took to Twitter to comment on the health of British Prime Minister Theresa May — and debate doctors over it.
First, he criticised the Conservative Party for playing "This is What We Came For" at a conference. "I do not support nor condone happy songs being played at such a sad event," he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. Then, things got personal when he attempted to diagnose May.
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"Also cough plus grey complexion suggests liver cleanse needed," he wrote. "Blood prob very dark — body trying to cleanse but lack of nutrients pls google."
That's when an actual doctor stepped in to evaluate this diagnosis (which, regardless of its medical legitimacy, should probably not be made based on watching a video). Ben White, a doctor with the British National Health Service, tweeted, "There's no such thing as a 'liver cleanse' in medicine or 'dark blood' and I'm a liver doc BTW."
If you are serious, then I mean there's no such thing as a 'liver cleanse' in medicine or 'dark blood & I'm a liver doc btw
— Dr Ben White (@drbenwhite) October 5, 2017
Harris was having none of it. "Come on doctor," he wrote. "There are plenty of foods that support the process of liver."
"Anything which doesn't have something proven to be toxic could 'support' the liver, I suppose," he wrote. "Nutrition is certainly important in liver disease — a balanced diet (limit salt) & no toxins (e.g. alcohol)."
Jim Stewart, Clinical Lead of the Leicester Intestinal Failure Team, also joined in the debate, writing, "The liver is the body’s cleanser. You don’t cleanse it, it cleanses you."
The liver is the body’s cleanser. You don’t cleanse it, it cleanses you...
— Nutrition Doc (@Leicnut) October 5, 2017
Somehow, to Harris, these doctors' takedown of his statement sound like agreement, because he replied, "Focusing on the semantics when in fact you do agree with me. The ego of the medical professional is like no other."
When yet another doctor — Dr. Ellie Cannon, who frequently serves as an expert on British TV — threw her support behind the doctors in this debate, Harris attempted to mansplain vaccines to her. "I think I would save a lot of people getting your free neurotoxin shot at your clinic this winter," he wrote. He then screenshotted a medical paper simply stating that preservatives should be used to keep bacterial out of vials as supposed evidence for his anti-vaccine claims.
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GROAN. You're only sending that because you don't understand the difference between methyl mercury and ethyl mercury.
— Dr Ellie (@Dr_Ellie) October 5, 2017
Google P.R.A.T.T
At least he deleted his tweets so people won't go basing their health decisions on his assessments.
to be fair to @CalvinHarris after a discussion he acknowledged and took down the tweet. Respect ?
— Dr Ben White (@drbenwhite) October 6, 2017