Former TV presenter denies being paid to highlight anti-vaccine message

Aisling O'Loughlin has posted multiple updates to her Instagram account since the beginning of April expressing scepticism regarding vaccines and Covid-19 restrictions. 

A former presenter on Irish television now based in France has denied that she has had any interactions with a Russia-linked PR agency accused of paying influencers to disparage Covid vaccines.

Aisling O’Loughlin, who worked with what was then TV3 from 2001 until 2016, responded on her Instagram account to a story in The Guardianclaiming that influencers in France and Germany had been offered money by an agency, called Fazze, to falsely tell their followers that the Pfizer vaccine had been responsible for thousands of deaths.

“I’ve been getting a few messages about this Russian-sponsored London-based PR company which has been paying German and French influencers to talk smack about the so-called Pfizer vaccine,” Ms O’Loughlin said in a video message on her Instagram profile.

The 43-year-old former Exposé-presenter, who now lives in France with her three children, has posted multiple updates to her Instagram account, which has 26,300 followers, since the beginning of April expressing scepticism regarding vaccines and Covid-19 restrictions.

However, she said the anti-vaccine posts were motivated by personal reasons rather than finances. 

Instagram feeds have been used to post a number of false claims relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to concerns that a Russian-sponsored company was paying influencers, she said:

“A few people are like ‘aha, now we get it, now we see why you’ve popped up out of the blue’, because I want the money apparently.

No, I’ve been very clear from the get-go … I’ve been acting independently. 

“I’ve never accepted money to do this.”

She insisted she was not paid to take a sceptical approach to public health advice. 

“Absolutely no one is paying me," said Ms O'Loughlin. "This is personal, it’s coming from a very private space. I’m not earning right now, so be it. 

"I’ll earn again later on,” she said. 

“So I just want to make that clear, no Russian-sponsored London-based PR company has paid me."

The post, which has been viewed more than 6,200 times, has been labelled as ‘partly false information’ by Instagram, after sections of Ms O’Loughlin’s message were debunked via a fact check by TheJournal.ie.

Ms O’Loughlin did not respond to a request for comment.