Former Pussycat Dolls member Jessica Sutta says she experienced a severe reaction to the Moderna vaccine. Three days after her first shot in August 2021, she developed an excruciating muscle spasm in her side, she says. After chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, massage, etc. proved unhelpful, she went to the hospital. Doctors believed it was a kidney infection and did not associate it with the COVID-19 vaccine, she says.
Her symptoms worsened after her second shot. She developed brain fog and her weight dropped sharply. In December 2021 she started developing pain in her entire body. In January 2022, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was told to work out, she says. While doing a yoga pose that involved twisting her back, she started experiencing neuropathy. “Small fiber neuropathy feels like you’re on fire … It was in my ribcage and all the way down my spine.” The pain came in waves, almost like contractions.
Watch the video:
“When the neuropathy came, it spread through my whole body. I remember staring at the ceiling and thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is it. I’m dying,’” Sutta says.
In this episode, she shares for the first time what she experienced, and why she has decided to speak out.
Correction: The timeline of her symptoms has been updated for clarity and to accurately reflect when her muscle spasm first started.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jan Jekielek:
Jessica Sutta, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.
Jessica Sutta:
Thank you, Jan. Thank you so much for having me.
Mr. Jekielek:
It’s amazing to have you here on the American Thought Leaders set. You’re a member of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the most successful girl bands of all time, a multi-platinum winner. You’ve had a solo career. Let’s start by summarizing for me what brings you here.
Ms. Sutta:
I was severely injured by the Moderna vaccine, and I found that your show is the safest place to be to speak my truth, because I know there’s a lot of people suffering out there. I know it’s brave for me to do this, which I think is crazy, but now I have the strength to do it and that’s why I’m here. So, thank you for having me.
Mr. Jekielek:
I am very happy to have you here. We should start from the beginning because there might be a few people out there that aren’t familiar with your dance and singing days. Maybe just start us off, how did you even get into the whole world of music?
Ms. Sutta:
I’ve been a dancer since I was three. I love dance. I love performing so much. I went to a performing art school called the New World School of the Arts where I focused on dance. Later on, after a knee injury, I switched to theater and got into acting. In Miami, once I graduated from high school, I danced for the Miami Heat, and did music videos. I danced with Will Smith.
And then, I was lucky enough to be on a soap opera called Ocean Ave. It was really fun. I enjoyed it so much. I loved being on set, but I'll let you in on a little secret, I’m a terrible actress. I moved to Los Angeles to act and it wasn’t really going so well for me. My first love was obviously dance. I was asked to do a public service announcement for Smokey The Bear.
It was my first job in Los Angeles, and it happened to be with Robin Antin, the creator of the Pussycat Dolls, who was the choreographer for this public service announcement for Smokey the Bear. We were putting out forest fires with our top hats and tuxedo leotards in the middle of the forest. It got cut out.
Mr. Jekielek:
Of course.
Ms. Sutta:
Of course. It got cut out of the actual PSA, which was very sad. But that’s when I established a little relationship with Robin Antin. On set she said, “I really love you. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to cut your bangs and I want you to be in the Pussycat Dolls.” I was like, “What is that? Okay, sounds good.”
That’s how I started in the Pussycat Dolls. It was a cast of about 50 girls. The lead was Carmen Electra. We had a lot of celebrity guests that came on, which gave it a lot of notoriety in Hollywood. It was a very cool underground show where Christina Applegate was an MC. Christina Aguilera performed, and Gwen Stefani.
When Gwen Stefani came in, she actually got the attention of her label, which was Interscope Records, and they were very interested in doing something with the group. But they had no idea what to do with it because it was just so wild. It went from 20 girls to six girls, and I stayed with the six. I was part of the pop group, the Pussycat Dolls, and it absolutely changed my life forever. It was incredible.
After the Pussycat Dolls, I did some solo work. I did some singing for dance music. I have five number one hits on the Billboard dance club chart. I love performing, and it’s been a really amazing, fun career. Actually, in 2019, we decided to have a reunion, which was really fun. But unfortunately, COVID stopped that, so it’s no longer happening.
Mr. Jekielek:
COVID really changed all sorts of things, and indeed it brought you here, ultimately.
Ms. Sutta:
Yes.
Mr. Jekielek:
What happened to you?
Ms. Sutta:
I’m a law-abiding citizen. I want to do what’s right for the community. I wanted to stop this pandemic. I’m not anti-vax in any way. I went to protect my community, and unfortunately my reaction wasn’t what I thought it would be, and it changed my life.
It’s been almost two years. It’s something that is not really allowed to be spoken about publicly because it’s so taboo. Maybe it’s rare, but it’s real. I live it every single day. My point in being here, Jan, since I’m also a fan of your show, is that I would like to speak to the vax injured and let them know that they’re not alone.
This is real. Your voice matters. You are loved. It’s time to take off your tinfoil hat that has been so graciously given to you by other people, because you’re not crazy. It’s happening. It’s time to get the researchers and the doctors involved to heal us because I know we will heal. It’s important to speak out now, truly.
Mr. Jekielek:
Thank you for doing that. It can be really difficult, and I’m familiar with a number of these vaccine injuries. Brianne Dressen, who I’ve had on the show, is in a similar situation to you, where it’s not obvious on the surface when you look at someone that anything’s different. It might be very easy for someone to say, “It’s all in your head,” or, “There’s some other reason.” There’s a whole lot of it that is not obvious.
Ms. Sutta:
No. In fact, I can tell you about my journey. Three days after the Moderna vaccine, I woke up with the most excruciating muscle spasm. As an athlete and a professional dancer, it just felt so different. It felt like I'd broken my rib. I had broken my rib before on tour, so I know pain very well. I danced about three shows after breaking my rib, so I’m familiar with pain.
I went and did all the therapies that I would normally do; the chiropractor, acupuncture, massage, and rest. Nothing would get this muscle spasm out. That was September 15th, 2021. I admitted myself to the hospital and they ran all these tests and all this blood work. I did a CAT scan and come to find out I was in perfect health. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me.
They sent me home with antibiotics saying that there was a kidney infection. They had to wait to get the test, and they said, “Okay.” So, I just went on and tried the same therapies and nothing was working. I was getting to a point where it was really hard to breathe. It just felt like burning and just knives in my side, and it was incredibly debilitating. I couldn’t even lift my son.
I had just had my son. That was really hard because just even holding him was a struggle. Our trainer mentioned to us that a friend of his in Boston had an adverse reaction to the COVID vaccine and that I need to take a look at something. So, my husband that night showed me a video of a thousand women having these horrific side effects from this vaccine. I just remember telling my husband, “Can you turn it off? I don’t want to see this. Come on, no way. This is just a muscle spasm. It’s going to go away.”
Eventually it got so bad. It was December 7th, and around that time it had spread through my whole body where I was just so heavy and my eyelids and my legs and my feet and everything hurt, and I just couldn’t move. I was still about 50, 60 pounds overweight in August from post-pregnancy, and I had lost that weight by December. I was already back to underweight, which was about 115.
It was crazy because I live in Hollywood and I was getting compliments. It was like, “Wow, you look great. What are you doing?” I was like, “I’m not doing anything different. I don’t know what’s going on with my body, but it feels like my body’s eating itself.” It’s even hard to talk about. Just speaking here right now it’s like, “Wow, I actually have a voice to speak out on this, as scary as it is.”
I eventually found a massage therapist that was working on my back, and she finally got the muscle spasm out. Once I got the muscle spasm out, I was laying in bed. All of a sudden I started developing a tremor. The next couple nights I started getting involuntary head jerks and leg jerks. It scared me because it felt like, “Oh my God, this is not my body anymore. What is going on?”
When I went to a rheumatologist and she said, “You have fibromyalgia.” I did a whole other blood test, a whole line of blood tests, and everything you can imagine. Nothing indicated any type of autoimmune disease. Nothing was abnormal. She said, “You have to work out. It’s fibromyalgia, you'll work through this.” When I would do that, it actually made things worse. I was in a yoga pose, and as I was twisting my spine, I came back and that’s when the neuropathy started.
Mr. Jekielek:
Very briefly, for those that might not know, what does that mean exactly?
Ms. Sutta:
Small fiber neuropathy feels like you’re on fire. It feels like it’s burning all throughout your ribcage. In my case, it was in my ribcage and all the way down my spine. It would come in contractions, it would come in waves, and it was so debilitating, and I just didn’t know what to do. At the time, I had switched insurances.
I begged my general practitioner, “Can I please see a neurologist? I really feel like something’s very wrong.” She said, “Okay.” She finally let me see him and the first thing he said was, “When did you get the vaccine?” He goes, “I think you had an adverse reaction.” That was the first time that I acknowledged it was actually happening to me.
Mr. Jekielek:
When you saw that video earlier of the many, many women that were having the tremors and the adverse reactions, I’m sorry to put you through that.
Ms. Sutta:
That’s okay.
Mr. Jekielek:
But for some reason you just weren’t ready to accept that this could be a possibility. Even though you had mentioned earlier that you had taken the vaccine and they were ignoring that. In the back of your mind, you knew. I am just trying to chart your thinking on this.
Ms. Sutta:
I didn’t want it to be real, especially because I was just trying to do the right thing. I couldn’t imagine that this could ever happen. This wasn’t something that was warned about. I didn’t get a heads-up that this could be a reaction, an autoimmune response. To this day, I still get gaslit to think that it’s not real.
Mr. Jekielek:
Having spoken to many people who have been injured, this is a very common situation. There was even this video that went around of a woman who had very severe tremors. She wanted to show people this is what can happen, but nevermind people not believing it, people were making fun of it. This is a reality in our society today. What is your reaction to that?
Ms. Sutta:
It’s so painful. But you know what? I’ve been gaslit a lot in my life, so I studied how to navigate through it. As hard as it is when people are gaslighting you and just trying to make it seem like what’s happening is not happening, you have to go back to your truth and know exactly how you feel.
With my fellow vax injured friends, their experiences are very real, and I’ve seen it firsthand. As to people who have not seen that, they don’t have friends that have myocarditis from this. They don’t have friends that have similar symptoms like I do.
When I went to the hospital, when the neuropathy came and spread through my whole body, I remember staring at the ceiling and thinking, “Oh my God, this is it. I’m dying. I’m dying. This is it. I have everything I’ve ever wanted in my entire life, and it’s almost over.” I didn’t know.
I went to the hospital for the second time, and that was May 3rd. Talk about being gaslit, that was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. Unless my arm is falling off, I won’t step foot in another hospital again. They didn’t want to believe it, even though I had been diagnosed by the neurologist from that hospital. Somehow, through my therapies and all of that, I had developed a lesion on my spine, on my C5-C6.
They were like, “This is what we think. You have symptoms of MS [Multiple Sclerosis], but you don’t have MS, so that’s good.” I was like, “I don’t know if that’s good, at least you can treat MS. What do you do with me here?” They said, “In three months you‘ll be fine, and this is just going to leave your body. Just don’t get the booster. You’ll be okay.”
It’s been two years, so it’s not getting any better. If anything, it’s getting progressively worse. That’s when I started really searching for answers and doing as much research as I possibly could and opening my mind and making my mind more broad in the sense of learning about everything and listening to everything everyone has to say. I want to hear it all. I want to hear the scientists.
I was really drawn to Dr. Robert Malone. I believe he’s a hero. I’m so grateful for that man. I just did a lot of research and then I came across React19. I saw Brianne Dressen speak in Congress talking about her experience and it was so similar to mine. But what scared me the most was that she was in a wheelchair. As a dancer and as a new mom, that’s terrifying. I’m a fighter and I’m not going to get there, hopefully not.
But yes, she gave me a lot of strength without even knowing it. That’s when I reached out to React19 on Instagram and I said, “Thank you so much for the work you’re doing. I’m actually vax injured. I’m terrified to speak out, but God bless you and God bless you guys being on the front line. I know that you’re getting so much hate, but thank you, because it means so much. You’re saving me. You’re saving me because I feel like I’m going crazy.”
Mr. Jekielek:
In those early days there was a lot of pressure to get vaccinated. There were all these influencers saying this is what you need to do. You had doctors saying things like what you just described, without really understanding the cost-benefit analysis, which I think every doctor should. You mentioned you wanted to do the right thing. There was this sense that this was the right thing to do for the community.
Ms. Sutta:
Right.
Mr. Jekielek:
But did you ever feel pressure?
Ms. Sutta:
Oh yes. I felt a ton of pressure from the media and people in the industry speaking out and bullying people and saying, “You’re a bad person if you don’t get this vaccine, I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to listen to your music.” Looking back, it was so incredibly irresponsible for them to do that. Especially some of them that I know personally, and that know about my condition. They just didn’t want to believe me.
But me staying silent, I believe it is irresponsible for me to do so. That’s why I was like, “Okay, eventually when I feel better, I’m going to speak out.” When I saw your interview with Bri, and I really am a fan of your show, I was like, “Yes, I want to do it with Jan. I think Jan’s the best one to do this.” Thank you for having me, because I don’t want to talk to anyone else.
Mr. Jekielek:
I’m glad to have you here.
Ms. Sutta:
Yes, thank you.
Mr. Jekielek:
What does it mean for you in your career to go public like you are today?
Ms. Sutta:
It’s probably one of the worst things I could ever do. It’s still very frowned upon in the industry. People get treated so poorly for speaking their truth. But here’s the thing, I’m not angry. I’m definitely sad when I think about it, but I’m not angry. I’m not pointing any fingers. What’s done is done. It is what it is.
I live a solution-based life now. I have a son. I want to have another baby eventually if I can. It’s just time to heal the community. I’m okay with the repercussions that come along with it, because I’m coming from my heart. I’m not angry, not anymore at least.
Mr. Jekielek:
I remember when we were talking offline that you mentioned to me that early on, while you were pregnant, you even had a doctor recommend that you take the vaccine during pregnancy, but something told you not to do that. Please tell me about this.
Ms. Sutta:
I was 32 weeks pregnant and she had mentioned that she was giving her patients the COVID vaccine and that it was fine and the babies are healthy and they’re actually immune to COVID when they come to the world. She said, “It’s actually a very good thing. Next time you come, let’s do it.”
I loved my doctor, of course. I was like, “Okay, let me think about it.” I got home and I told my husband and my husband was like, “No, no, no. You didn’t want to do it before,” because I didn’t. I truly was apprehensive, because I was already scared during pregnancy.
It was a stressful time for me, because I just wanted to protect my baby so much. I was pregnant during a pandemic. I was so paranoid and just stayed in my bubble and just stayed away from people as much as I could. I told him, “Yes, you know what? You’re right.”
I was easily influenced back then because I just wanted to do the right thing. But looking back, I don’t talk to her anymore. I have a lot of resentment about that situation because I truly could have lost my son with the reaction that I had. That is absolutely a devastating thought for me.
Mr. Jekielek:
Censorship is really strong. This is what the Twitter Files revealed. But the other thing that they revealed is how you can craft the illusion of consensus, when social media, media, government, and all these different entities, ostensibly independent, are actually all united around the same talking points.
Ms. Sutta:
That little box on Instagram says, “For the facts on COVID go here,” that really started hurting me. I would start trying to speak out and I would post funny things from Russel Brand because he’s really funny with this whole thing, and I would get this box. “For the real truth go here.” And then, I posted again. It just kept on going.
The censorship was just unbelievable. They’ve had a funny way of just making it one narrative and everyone just following through. That is why it’s so hard for people to wrap their head around this, because social media is a big muscle. It’s a big way of mind control.
Thank God for Elon Musk. Thank God for him unveiling all of the things that were hidden, all the censorship and all the things that I needed to read. I needed to see the protocols that these doctors were giving to people that had adverse reactions with MS symptoms.
There were all these protocols and things I just didn’t have access to. It just became a very isolating world where I was like, “Okay, I guess I’m just dying. This is just in my head, and I just got to suck it up and take Gabapentin,” because that’s what they give you.
That was the thing when I went to the hospital, they gave me so much medicine and I’m in recovery. It’s a hard thing. A lot of the medications that they gave me that didn’t help were the most mind-altering drugs, and they need to have black box warning labels on them. I also think that the Moderna vaccine should also have a black box warning label.
Mr. Jekielek:
Are you able to dance now?
Ms. Sutta:
My friend actually introduced me to this documentary called, “Get to the Root.” It’s about root canals and how infections could cause autoimmune problems, because there will be infections underneath the old root canal, the post and the tooth, that regular x-ray couldn’t pick up, and you would have to get a CAT scan.
I got myself to the best biodentist and I had a tooth removed. About six days later, after having it removed, I felt completely normal and I had all my energy back. I could put thoughts together. It was incredible. That’s when I started dancing ballet again.
It was a good two months where I had an amazing time. I had my ballet teacher come to the house and I was strength training that way. It was such a spiritual experience for me, especially as an adult doing ballet, because when I was younger I just said, “Ugh!”
As an adult it was just so wonderful, and it just felt like I was connecting to my Archangels. And then, unfortunately, the neuropathy, the burning through my ribcage, came back worse than ever. And yes, I had to stop doing ballet.
Mr. Jekielek:
What does your root canal abscess have to do with your vaccine injury? I’m not super clear on this.
Ms. Sutta:
From my experience, it just feels like my body is in full attack mode. My immune system just fights everything. Then I stumbled across that documentary, “Get to the Root.” In that documentary, they talk about how some infections could be hidden in old work, like a root canal or fillings that are not picked up by just a 2D X-ray. They need a CAT scan.
My body could be trying to fight what’s going on in my teeth, but just can’t get to it, leaving my body in an autoimmune response. I was willing to try anything. I was like, “Just take them all out.” It actually worked for about two months and then it came back.
Unfortunately, I guess that wasn’t the root cause. I’m glad the infection’s out and I’m glad I was introduced to biodentistry. Maybe it will alleviate some problems for other people. It did for me. But unfortunately, other things are causing the neuropathy.
Mr. Jekielek:
Do you know anyone else in the industry that is experiencing the same things you are?
Ms. Sutta:
Oh, yes.
Mr. Jekielek:
Similar things?
Ms. Sutta:
I know of a lot of people.
Mr. Jekielek:
You know of a lot of people?
Ms. Sutta:
A lot of people. Actually, Bethenny Frankel, I don’t know her personally, but she just was on Page Six talking about that she has an autoimmune response and she’s very angry. I hope I can reach out to her and bring her to React19 so she can get the help she needs. But it’s very scary because that was one of the reasons I wanted to speak out.
A lot of these people are a lot bigger than me, and I don’t even consider myself a celebrity. But I was angered by the fact that they’re not speaking out. I’m like, “Why aren’t they speaking out?”
They want to work. They have endorsement deals. I’m like, “Well, I don’t have an endorsement deal, so I guess I should just go and speak.” Because it’s time to heal. That’s it.
Mr. Jekielek:
What kind of numbers are we talking about that you are aware of?
Ms. Sutta:
Personally, I know about 10 people, which is a lot. But in the industry, it’s just categorized as some weird neurological disorder.
Mr. Jekielek:
It just happens to be happening at much higher frequency than ever before?
Ms. Sutta:
People are finally coming out of the gaslight and they’re seeing the truth and thinking for themselves and realizing, “Oh my God, this is a possibility.” With a lot of people in the industry, I gave them my word, and I would never say anything about them. But I hope that this interview will inspire them to come out, because it could really change lives and even save lives. I know it’s scary.
It’s a lot more than people think. A lot of people don’t talk about it at all. It’s that taboo thing to even speak about, especially in Hollywood. A lot of people in the industry who don’t believe me, they kind of mess with me in a sense and say, “Well, I just got my booster, I just did this and I’m fine,” which I think is so dangerous. My very, very close friend’s aunt’s father just recently died. Oh god, it makes me so sick and sad.
I know that everyone’s body is their body and everyone has the choice. But I would recommend maybe halting the vax just to reconfigure. Because one death is enough, one child on the football field is enough. I just read that the FDA had pulled some eye drops because they killed one person. For just one person, it was pulled.
Why is it different with this? Why is it so different with this, with all these young, beautiful kids and athletes in superb health? Why isn’t it completely pulled off this shelf immediately? It’s so confusing to me. Maybe they need to tell us the truth of what this really is.
I’ve had to stop a lot of mainstream media, especially like KTLA. There was the issue about the military and that they want to stop the mandated vaccines for our military. I was like, “Oh, thank God.” Then, the reporter says, “Can you believe they still think it’s not safe or effective,” as I’m feeling the small fiber neuropathy throughout my whole body. I just looked at my husband and I was like, “Shut it off. I can’t watch this show anymore.”
That hit me really hard, because I’m a big supporter of the troops. I performed in Afghanistan and Jordan at the bases there. They have my heart. For any of our soldiers that would go through this, that are protecting our country, it’s vital that they do not get the vax. It is so imperative that we protect our military who are protecting our country and keeping freedom alive.
Mr. Jekielek:
What has been the impact of this injury on your family’s life?
Ms. Sutta:
Thank you for asking that. It’s been really hard for my husband because he doesn’t want to see me suffer. He’s watched this whole journey. He’s been my champion. He’s the one that steered me into knowing exactly what it is. It’s a lot for the families that have to deal with having family members that are suffering like this.
I want to speak out on that and say how important and vital they are, and how grateful I am to my husband because it is not easy. He asked me the other day, because he’s been staying strong, “How are you doing? How are you doing?”
Finally in tears the other day he’s like, “I want to take this away from you, babe. I just don’t want to see you suffering.” I said, “Honey, I’m just glad it was me and not you or our son.” I was like, “I don’t want to inflict this on anyone that I love. I’m glad that it’s me, not you.”
I know that’s hard for him, but I know I’m going to get through this. To my fellow injured, I will say this with confidence, “We will heal. I pray for us every single day, we will heal.”
Mr. Jekielek:
There’s two things that come to my mind when I hear you speaking. On the one hand, there might be people who have been injured that are watching this, and they may get some inspiration. There’s also inner strength that you need to find to deal with being, as you call it, gas lit. What would you say to people that are in this situation?
Ms. Sutta:
I just want to say first of all, your voice matters, and you are worthy of your feelings. It’s an opportunity to really meet who you truly are inside. I know there’s a lot of people that have taken their life over this, and I understand that. That’s not an option for me. I’m a mom.
I was just always in fear that this was just going to kill me. Things have gotten better, and I'll have a week that’s good. Right now I’m in pretty bad pain. But what I would say to them is stay strong.
I would say go to React19. Join the community. There are all these beautiful protocols that they are finding, all these new tests, all these things that will help us heal. You will be heard and you will be seen and you'll be loved and accepted.
They’ve just been so phenomenal. All the vax injured doctors that are working with React19 have taken me under their wing and are helping me get into the neurologist, because it’s very difficult. Doctors are very, very busy right now. Appointments take about six months to get, but they’re getting me into doctors that are not even seeing new clients, and they’re getting me in to get me well. They actually care. They hear me.
Bri Dressen, she’s my hero. She has truly been a beacon of delight for me and for so many other people that I know. I’m just so grateful for warriors like her who paved the way for us to make us feel seen and heard and loved.
She takes time out of the day when I’m just not feeling good. She explains to me what’s going on, because no doctors really explained anything to me. The whole community has been a godsend, because we can speak to each other with such a knowingness and there’s no biased confusion or any of that.
My voice matters and it hasn’t mattered for so long. It’s been stifled for so long, and I’ve had so much shame with this. Like, “Oh my God, why is this happening to me?” But maybe it happened to me for a reason, and if I can just give any inspiration and hope to your viewers, that would mean the world to me.
Mr. Jekielek:
That’s beautiful.
Ms. Sutta:
Thank you.
Mr. Jekielek:
Jessica Sutta, it’s such a pleasure to have you on the show.
Ms. Sutta:
Thank you, Jan. Thank you so much. I just want to commend you for Epoch and your show, for true journalism. We need this in our world so badly, and I’m so grateful for all of you, and this is coming from all the truth seekers in the world. We love you guys.
Mr. Jekielek:
Thank you.
Ms. Sutta:
You’re welcome.
Mr. Jekielek:
Thank you all for joining Jessica Sutta and me on this episode of American Thought Leaders. I’m your host, Jan Jekielek. Moderna did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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