Do we like Jim Carrey?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A long clean run and real generosity, held back by the 2015 anti-mercury vaccine tweets and a thin record on trans issues.
The big Carrey story this year isn't a scandal, it's a conspiracy theory about him. After he collected an honorary César in Paris on 26 February, drag artist Alexis Stone posted images of prosthetics and a wig on Instagram. That set off claims that an impostor had stood on the stage.
The César's general delegate told Variety the appearance was genuine and planned for months, and called the rumours a non-issue. He said Carrey had worked on his French speech for months, and that his old mate Michel Gondry was in the room. If you're after a clone, mate, there isn't one.
Now the harm check. In 2015 he tweeted that California's new vaccine law was backed by a “corporate fascist” governor. He later wrote “I am not anti-vaccine. I am anti-thimerosal, anti-mercury.” Under that article, the CDC says no US childhood vaccines contain mercury or thimerosal, and finds no link to autism. It's a real stain and it's old, and it's the one that stops this being a clean sweep.
On the rest of the harm test the record is quiet. His loud politics were anti-Trump paintings and cartoons, which he said in 2020 he was finished with, adding “It’s never been a matter of hating anyone.” We found nothing from him against trans or LGBTQ+ people, but we also found no statement from him on trans issues. That's a gap, not a tick.
The ugly chapter was legal. Relatives of a former partner sued him, alleging he illegally supplied prescription drugs, and the plaintiffs' side released a note attributed to her blaming him. Carrey denied it, filed a countersuit calling the claims fraudulent, and the case was dismissed in early 2018. His publicist said all claims against him were dismissed.
On the good side, his publicist said he gave $1 million to families of victims of the September 2001 attacks. In 2026 he was honoured by the French film industry for his career. The record is thin on recent causes, so we're not going to oversell it.