Big Tobacco Whistleblower Dr. Jeffrey Wigand Speaks at National Whistleblower Day 2024 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01after all that I'm sorry to disappoint
2. 0:03you all but I'm Russell
3. 0:08Crow
4. 0:11and to try to capture the last 30
5. 0:16years
6. 0:18after basically sticking it to the
7. 0:21tobacco industry in their
8. 0:24NDA I was able to start a process that
9. 0:27has created what I would call conscience
10. 0:30in
11. 0:32action that is using your conscience to
12. 0:35can keep do what better work you can do
13. 0:39and I'm reminded of a quote from Keats
14. 0:43as
15. 0:44follows beauty is TR
16. 0:47truth truth
17. 0:50breedy that is all you need to know on
18. 0:54Earth and all you need to know end the
19. 0:58quote
20. 1:01I would not be standing here tonight or
21. 1:04this afternoon if it wasn't for a lot of
22. 1:07people and I mean a lot of people who
23. 1:10really helped Marshall me through some
24. 1:13really tough
25. 1:15times a quiet on
26. 1:19bodyguards that would start my car in
27. 1:21the
28. 1:22morning check my
29. 1:25mail and then follow me to
30. 1:28school and and then pick me up from
31. 1:30school bring me home my girls wanted to
32. 1:33go out riding a bicycle they went with
33. 1:37her so I have a a really debt of
34. 1:43Duty to people such as my father who I
35. 1:48talk to every
36. 1:50day my brother who also talked to every
37. 1:54day and they never got to
38. 1:57see the end
39. 2:00that is coming out of
40. 2:02the the 158 students I was teaching
41. 2:06every day Who provided me the glue and
42. 2:09the substance to continue on and I was
43. 2:12teaching in Louisville Kentucky Home of
44. 2:15brown
45. 2:16Williamson and Philip Morris
46. 2:18tobacco and I have to tell you
47. 2:22that I had their attention every
48. 2:25day but I have to say if it wasn't for
49. 2:29the children
50. 2:30the people who help
51. 2:32me without being compensated to weather
52. 2:36the storm and as a as a whistleblower
53. 2:39and a person of
54. 2:42conscience there are going to be
55. 2:44tremendous penalties and on a daily
56. 2:48basis such as death
57. 2:51threats such as smear campaign that law
58. 2:55firm of chatboard and park paid $8.2
59. 2:58million to smearing public
60. 3:00opinion so when I came to
61. 3:03court I would always raint it but it
62. 3:06wasn't for the Wall Street Journal the
63. 3:08New York Times and the LA Times who
64. 3:11debug the garbage they put
65. 3:15out the hiring of a of a
66. 3:19public person of of well scandin I mean
67. 3:24I don't know he's a publicist and he
68. 3:26went around selling the story
69. 3:31to the media hoping that I when I ever
70. 3:33got the
71. 3:35court I would never be
72. 3:37believed and that storm has passed and I
73. 3:41must say that it has made me
74. 3:45stronger I know the substance of my
75. 3:48conscience and the substance of my
76. 3:51strength has come
77. 3:54forward I spend a lot of my time
78. 3:57continuing the conscious conscious and
79. 4:00action I I've been around the
80. 4:03world meeting with presidents of
81. 4:06countries Ministers of health of
82. 4:08countries all trying to continue what
83. 4:11happened when I violated my
84. 4:14NDA on on 60 Minutes on a Sunday
85. 4:19evening much of that has
86. 4:22come and made the difference so I don't
87. 4:26know how and why is it my individ ual or
88. 4:30is it more the
89. 4:32movie but has allowed me to get in some
90. 4:35very high offices and make some
91. 4:40changes and I mean the changes are are
92. 4:42coming whether it's the generational
93. 4:45band in New Zealand that's been to
94. 4:48changing the way tobacco is sold and
95. 4:52distributed in New
96. 4:54Zealand how nicotine that they the pack
97. 4:57requires a physician's involvement
98. 5:00and prescription to get it filled in a
99. 5:04pharmacy okay to Japan to Korea to
100. 5:09Iceland Norway
101. 5:12Sweden Holland I mean I haven't missed
102. 5:15to it just two three weeks ago I was
103. 5:19able to address the Israeli knesset on
104. 5:21to how to change the laws of
105. 5:25tobacco how when the IDF soldiers come
106. 5:28back from this bral
107. 5:30War who have been fed daily tobacco
108. 5:34products how are you going to treat them
109. 5:36when they get
110. 5:41done I where does it end I mean I think
111. 5:44it's ending here today with all you
112. 5:48people who share a common conscience
113. 5:50with me what you do and what you've
114. 5:53done
115. 5:55requires you putting yourself in H's way
116. 5:58for the betterment of
117. 6:01others and I think that is what Steve
118. 6:04reflected before me but I think that's
119. 6:07the point we all take how do we put
120. 6:10oursel In Harm's Way to better and we
121. 6:13have I have to say given what's going on
122. 6:15in the world today in the business world
123. 6:18and government they're going to be more
124. 6:20and more
125. 6:22whistleblowers because the the erosion
126. 6:24of Mor morality is
127. 6:28endemic and I mean is emic we see it
128. 6:33everywhere
129. 6:36and I look forward to share with you
130. 6:39again in future years your
131. 6:43successes because by by virtue of being
132. 6:46recognized as it was you have made the
133. 6:49first step and I encourage you all to
134. 6:52keep on taking steps to to
135. 6:57further the pro
136. 7:00the the
137. 7:02debunking of what you came forward with
138. 7:05with
139. 7:08risk so I thank you all I thank all of
140. 7:12you
141. 7:13whistleblowers and I mean guess is what
142. 7:16I
143. 7:23[Applause]