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In a mostly uneventful interview at TechCrunch Disrupt, interviewer Josh Constine stepped on an awkward landmine when he asked Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel to comment on wife Miranda Kerr's beliefs about the toxicity of cellphone and WiFi radiation.
The Snapchat founder had a prickly response.
"Why don’t we make a deal," Spiegel said. "I won’t make fun of your wife on stage, and you won’t make fun of mine."
Constine was referring to a revelation from an interview Kerr gave to NewBeauty in May. The supermodel detailed the amount of WiFi and cellular radiation blocking devices she had in her home, saying, "it's a lot." That portion of the interview, along with a section on her devotion to alkaline water, went viral when journalist Taylor Lorenz tweeted it out in September (the tweet has since been deleted).
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Electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation is one of those misunderstood topics that wellness types have seized on as a "toxin." In reality, there is neither scientific evidence nor a theoretical basis for the idea that the low-energy radiation emitted by cellphones and WiFi routers is harmful to our health. Nevertheless, there are so many people trumping up the alleged dangers of this low-energy radiation, and selling EMF-blocking products, that the FTC has issued a warning about these sort of product "scams."
As the founder of a natural beauty brand, Kerr has become a major figure in the Goop-y wellness world. And while it's all-too common for people in this space to hold scientifically dubious beliefs about various forms of "toxins," Kerr's anti-WiFi routines turned heads (including mine) because of her marriage to someone who should theoretically be enlightened about technology and health — tech CEO Spiegel.
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Spiegel does not appear to have done his due diligence.
"I haven't had an opportunity to look into it," Spiegel said, when asked about EMF. "If you're married, which I think you are, you probably understand how you want to support your partner in everything that they believe."
SEE ALSO: The troubling world of WiFi toxicity truthers on InstagramSpiegel confirmed that, unlike Kerr, he does not have an EMF radiation-blocking sticker on his phone. But he mostly answered Constine by shutting down the questions about Kerr.
"Are you trying to shame my wife in an interview?" Spiegel said.
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It sounds like Spiegel is not going to stand in the way of Kerr's EMF beliefs, but he's not willing to endorse them, either.
One thing's for sure: he's not going to stand for anyone making fun of her.
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