The original 'insider' speaks out

Jeffrey Wigand, anti-tobacco crusader and subject of the highly acclaimed film "The Insider," spoke to the campus on April 4 for the spring Multicultural Lecture Series titled “Does Integrity Matter? Inside the Tobacco Industry.”  The Multicultural Lecture Series Committee selected Wigand because they felt he embodied integrity, demonstrating it “both personally and professionally,” according to Lynette Harris, the director of community standards and a member of the committee.

Wigand was originally hired by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation to develop a safer cigarette. After several months of work, a “safer” cigarette was developed but the company wanted to continue using a controversial pipe tobacco additive. When the term “safer” was removed from the documents, implying that the new cigarette was safe, Wigand refused to sign off on it. Consequently, the safer cigarette project was abandoned and the company quickly let Wigand go, firing him on the grounds of “poor communication skills.”

Wigand kept quiet about his knowledge for several months until he was approached by 60 Minutes to review some documents about fire-safe cigarettes. He agreed to tell them what he knew. The program uncovered that the tobacco companies had developed a fire-safe cigarette of the same quality and price but chose not to market the product, which could have saved an average of 1,200 lives per year through 1994.

Wigand eventually shared his inside information on cigarette product design with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which would lead to the FDA’s decision to regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Wigand’s willingness to expose the truth about the tobacco industry’s awareness of the dangers of smoking made him a key witness in tobacco litigation.

His former employer sued him for his public disclosures about the industry’s efforts to minimize the health and safety of tobacco use.  However, the lawsuit was dismissed in a historic June 20, 1997 settlement between the Attorneys General of 40 states and the tobacco industry.

Wigand’s ordeal with the tobacco industry was featured in the highly-acclaimed film The Insider, which earned actor Russell Crowe an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the whistleblower.  

“Do I believe I have done the right thing? Yes,” Wigand said. “Would I do it again? Yes.”

“Thou shall not be a victim. Thou shall not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shall not be a bystander," Wigand said, quoting a line from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. 

Wigand expressed regret about not stepping forward sooner. However, despite initially falling to what he calls “bystanderism,” he feels that he regained his integrity by coming forward with his knowledge.

“What are you going to do with what you know?” Wigand asked the audience. “There is an obligation with knowledge and I have passed it on to you.”