In the world of controversial health documentaries, few titles have been as polarizing as “Vaxxed,” the film co-created by Andrew Wakefield and Polly Tommey. Billed as an exposé on alleged vaccine cover-ups, it also serves as a case study in questionable fundraising and self-enrichment practices within the anti-vaccine movement.
Recent nonprofit tax records paint a startlingly clear picture: in 2016 alone, the AMC Foundation—the charitable arm associated with “Vaxxed”—took in $1,325,098 in contributions and grants. The obvious question is: where did this flood of donor money end up? The answer: straight into the pockets and business interests of Wakefield and Tommey.
Let’s break down the numbers. About $207,000 was itemized as “other expenses”—with a chunk going to travel and vague, non-itemized categories. But the headline act was the nearly $1 million that didn’t go to medical research, family support, or autism advocacy. Instead, it was directly transferred to the Autism Media Channel LLC—a business controlled by Wakefield and Tommey themselves.
To be clear, the AMC Foundation (the charity) effectively funneled greater than three-quarters of its donor-raised funds into its own co-founders’ private company. That’s roughly $500,000 each, before subtracting operational costs. Compare that with the foundation’s prior year, when Tommey’s salary and a producer’s payment (probably to Del Bigtree) were transparently listed—a practice that evaporated in 2016.
Donors likely expected their contributions to support families or fund research. Instead, the details were obscured when the funds were handed over to a for-profit LLC, sidestepping meaningful transparency and public accountability. Despite repeatedly calling for transparency from public health agencies, the “Vaxxed” team made sure to keep their own financial arrangements behind closed doors.
This practice raises glaring ethical concerns. It gives the anti-vaccine movement’s critics substantial ammunition: Why would a charity, pitched to benefit children and concerned families, transfer millions to enrich its own leadership? Are donors subsidizing a genuine movement for change—or underwriting a business, under the guise of charity and public advocacy?
Until Wakefield and Tommey provide a full, transparent accounting, donors and the larger community should ask whether their good intentions are simply being exploited to line the pockets of “Vaxxed”’s architects. If transparency is the rallying cry, it’s time for them to lead by example[citation:3].
“A few years ago Andrew Wakefield (one of Time Magazine’s Great Science Frauds) headed a team promoting a faux documentary called “Vaxxed”. I wrote about this film a great deal at the time, but suffice it to say it exemplified much of what is wrong with the way the anti-vaccine community uses and abuses the autism community.
If memory serves, VAXXED concluded with a long list of sponsors. So they apparently had a fair amount of money to work with to produce the film. The film was a product of the Autism Media Channel, which is a limited liability corporation (LLC) owned by Polly Tommey and Andrew Wakefield, based on tax records. At the same time, Vaxxed was associated with a charity: AMC Foundation. Said foundation is run by Andrew Wakefield with Polly Tommey and Brian Burrowes also listed as directors (at least on past tax forms)…”
Read the original article: https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2018/11/19/vaxxed-pulled-in-over-1-3m-in-donations-and-most-of-it-went-to-wakefield-and-tommeys-company/
Originally posted Sept 13, 2022. Rewritten and posted Dec 3, 2026.
