News went viral Tuesday, that the award-winning actor was infected with Ebola in Liberia where he was shooting the movie, ‘Bendu Sudan.’ The story also added that Ghana’s Foreign Ministry had barred the actor from returning to Ghana.
Speaking in an interview with Myjoyonline.com, Van Vicker, who stated he is currently in Ghana, said he heard the story around 8am Tuesday.
He explained his first reaction was “what rubbish is that?
"I didn’t take it seriously myself. I just thought it was one of those Facebook things like what they did to me, I think about a year ago, when they said I was going to church in Nigeria and I had an accident and was bleeding to death.”
“So I thought it was a Facebook thing only to realize that it was a story on the website and other websites or bloggers picked it up and the whole thing just went out of proportion.
“Then it dawned on me how serious this story is getting and how it could affect my career and family,” the actor added.
Van Vicker stressed that publishers of the story did not contact him, and he has also not also granted any interview “to anyone with regards to Ebola, Liberia or my ‘Bendu Sudan’ shoot.”
According to him, his wife and kids were visibly traumatized by the story: “My wife was getting hysterical because she was getting calls, I was getting phone calls. It was just very disturbing.”
Considering the effects the story could have on his family, especially his kids, “Last night we had to sit our kids down and speak to them about the story and explain to them that it is not true...Just in case they get to school and people want to tease them or stay away from them because if [their] father is infected possibly the kids could also be infected.”
Van Vicker disclosed that he has begun the process the take legal action against publishers of the story.
“I got off the line with my lawyer and she is looking at the possibility of suing the persons behind it. We are just trying to get the source. For starters, we know where the story broke out.”
The legal action he hopes will deter others from publishing false stories about him.
“Yes we are in discussions with the intent to sue them; just to send a signal to all those who have been writing such bogus stories with no proof or whatsoever, that they should put a stop to it because this unprofessional journalism is undue,” he stressed. The legal process, the actor added, will commence in a day or two.
Van Vicker said he had to abandon an initial plan to shoot part of his movie in Liberia, in August after the Ebola menace was exacerbated.
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