Jedediah Bila One-on-One with OutKick

Jedediah Bila, who has one of the best Twitter accounts going, is a former co-host of The View and Fox & Friends Weekend.

She spoke with OutKick about why she was once terrified of the virus, masking children, why she won't get the COVID vaccine, and what's next in her career. 

Enjoy. She's fantastic. 

Bobby Burack: Early in the pandemic, critics said you were taking COVID too seriously. Now, they say you aren't taking it seriously enough. What changed?

Jedediah Bila: It's all been very authentic, too, Bobby. I've been very honest with people from the start. When this first happened, I was very scared. I didn't know what COVID was. I was living in New York City, a very populated place, in a one-bedroom apartment. I had a four-month-old. I had just come off pregnancy and nursing. I had this little person who I was here to protect, and suddenly there was this virus that was taking over the world.

We didn't have a lot of information. So, I was scared and I've been very blunt about that. And I stayed scared for too long. I was someone who tracked my natural immunity. I had COVID. I was worried about my parents. I was kind of paralyzed by my own fear. And the reason that I own up to that is that it is important for people to acknowledge that this happened to some of us.

But then I started to question what was going on. Like, why aren't schools able to reopen? I was tracking my natural immunity and realizing this is actually quite sturdy. I visited schools and all of the maskings of children was starting to seem odd to me, all these masks on children's faces. It was perfectly reasonable that you could open a school. I saw that with my own two eyes. So why weren't they opening?

The government was gaining way too much power over people. I was always suspect of Big Pharma anyway. And then when the mandates hit, forget it. I was like, "I am in no way going to continue living in fear."

We had data for a very long time on natural immunity, on masking. That was ignored. So once I saw that the data was being ignored, once I saw that the lockdown had gone on too long, once I saw this one-size-fits-all plan for vaccine mandates, I was done. It all felt like an effort to do something more than contain COVID.

It made me look back on my own fear, and I was embarrassed. Frankly, I was like, "I should have known better as someone who's suspicious of media and authority."

Burack: Is there a platform to have an open discussion on COVID, the vaccine and mandates?

Almost every show provides just one perspective. Even their guests overwhelmingly agree with it. The View had an opportunity to have this conversation when you appeared in the fall. Instead, they cut you off.

Bila: There is not. I think that's why you see a lot of people turning to the podcasting world. Joe Rogan has been a big topic. I disagree with Joe Rogan on plenty of things, but he's just having people on and he's just asking questions. People crave a conversation. They just want to hear people talk something through.

After that experience on The View in November, I got tons of messages from people saying they did not agree with me but wanted to hear what I had to say. This was a missed opportunity on TheView's part. They had a missed opportunity for us to have a really great debate and conversation about an important topic that everyone was talking about at home.

I think there's a hunger for conversation and debate. And I think people are increasingly turning to mediums where they feel that they exist. It's gotten really interesting what those spaces look like now,

Burack: What's next for you? Podcasting? A return to television?

Bila: So, I can't say right now. But you will be hearing a lot more from me, Bobby, in this coming year. I will have plenty to say in these conversations.

What people should remember is I make people mad sometimes because I don't tell a lie. I got into this business when the Tea Party was on the rise -- I was beating up on Republicans at the time. I took a lot of heat for that.

I didn't get into this business to make politicians happy. I'm here to think for myself. Sometimes I will make mistakes. I will admit them.

So people will be hearing much more from me. I can't say what yet, but you will see it coming. I will announce it on my Locals, where I will also track my move out of New York City. I'm moving out of New York.

Burack: When did you decide you would not get the COVID-19 vaccine?

Bila: So I never intended to get the vaccine. There were several reasons. One, I had COVID already and I had been tracking my immunity for a very long time.

By the time the vaccine came out, I had met with an infectious disease specialist. I was watching my antibodies. I did testing that went beyond his antibody testing. Once you get beyond the six month mark with that, you start to feel like, "I'm okay, I'm protected." I also had a medical exemption that was written by several doctors because of my own medical history. They felt that the vaccine would be problematic for me.

The vaccine was risky for me because of my own personal medical history. So it was not the right choice for me. My parents decided differently. They decided they were going to get vaccinated, and I supported them in that decision. I actually made those appointments for them, and I drove them to those appointments.

I didn't realize the vaccine was going to become this battle. Like, somehow you were the enemy if you were unvaccinated. Everyone unvaxxed was grouped together as "anti-vaxx" and "selfish." This was pretty unbelievable to witness, a game played by not only the media but doctors and politicians. They used the vaccine to divide society and gain more control. A lot of people allowed that to happen. And that's really sad, frankly, when I look back.

Burack: What was Jedediah like in high school?

Bila: Oh my gosh, I was, like, a nerd, Bobby.

I grew up in a family that didn't have a lot of money. And I was taught from a very young age to really value working hard to achieve whatever it was that I wanted.

I wanted to get a really strong education because I felt like that would be my ticket. I knew that I needed to get a college scholarship and wanted to go to grad school. I will say, I have a little bit of a different view of education now, having gone through the whole process. Anyway, I was a nerd. I was buried in books.

I did run track. I ran high school track, and that was a way to clear my head and get out. I wasn't super competitive about it, in the sense of, like, training. But that's about it. I didn't have much of a social life until I got to college. I made up for it, sort of.

Make no mistake about it. I was boring.

Burack: What's your Super Bowl prediction?

Bila: Oh no. I don't even know who's in the Super Bowl, Bobby. I think you need to ask someone about my lack of knowledge when it comes to sports.

Hmm, maybe ask Will Cain. Ask Will what Jedediah's Super Bowl pick is. He will know that I know nothing.

I'm going to embarrass myself. I am a fitness girl. Does that count? If I were going to watch sports, I'd probably watch basketball.

Okay, I want to help you with your bet. Who are the two teams in the Super Bowl, Bobby?

Burack: I can't tell you.

Bila: Fine. What are the two colors?

Burack: Orange and yellow.

Bila: I think orange wins.

Burack: According to Jedediah Bila, the Bengals will win the Super Bowl.

Bila: I'm so embarrassed.

Jedediah Bila is the author of Dear Hartley and is at Bila.Locals.