Written by Michelle Kretzer
Lady Gaga, a one-time anti-fur advocate and supposed anti-bullying advocate, seems to flip-flop more than a new pair of Havaianas. Now Sharon Osbourne is calling the singer out on it, saying:
[W]hen I saw you wear a dress made out of raw meat, I was sickened. When I see you wearing fur, and using it as a fashion statement, the fact that defenseless animals have been killed so you can get your picture in the press is abhorrent to me. Shouldn't you be teaching your 'little monster' fans to respect animals and life?
Whether the target is people or animals, no one likes a bully. Maybe that's why staunch animal advocates have been scooping up so many awards lately.
At the People's Choice Awards, Glee stars Lea Michele and Chris Colfer claimed Favorite Comedic TV Actress and Actor awards and Jason Mraz was named Favorite Male Artist. Ellen DeGeneres was named Favorite Daytime TV Host, Jared Padalecki's show Supernatural took Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show honors, and Mayim Bialik's The Big Bang Theory was voted Favorite Network TV Comedy. Presenters Olivia Munn and Ian Somerhalder were a huge hit, and host Kaley Cuoco even took a page out of PETA's book and fought back against dog shaming with a little "people shaming" of her own.
Bones' David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel were named TV Guide's Best Actor and Best Actress. Onscreen, the TV couple focus on investigating deaths, but off-screen David and Emily are all about saving animals' lives.
Animal advocate extraordinaire Russell Simmons is being honored with the Visionary Award from the Producers Guild of America for his philanthropy and ethical approach to business. And several stars snagged our nominations for best animal-friendly tweets of the week:
With all the love for animals and the folks who defend them that's been going around this week, guess who got named among the least popular people in America? That'd be the Kardashian family, who ranked lower than Congress, root canals, and traffic jams.
Unlike some members of the Kardashian clan, Lena Dunham prefers her fur attached to its rightful owner. She happily shared photos of her fluffy new rescued dog, Lamby, on Instagram.
It's also a boy for Miley Cyrus, who just added new rescued puppy Bean to her family. Meanwhile, her sister Noah Cyrus was celebrating another milestone. For her 13th birthday, Noah asked her friends to donate $13 toward getting horse-drawn carriages off New York City's streets.
Vocal horse advocate Kathy Najimy put her money where her mouth is, competing on Food Network's Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off to benefit PETA. Of course Kathy, along with competitor and fellow PETA supporter Cornelia Guest, cooked all vegetarian meals.
Perhaps Kathy and Cornelia could swap recipes with Gwyneth Paltrow, who is releasing a new vegetarian-friendly cookbook. Their expertise may even come in handy on the final frontier. One of America's most respected space entrepreneurs, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, is making plans to establish the first colony on Mars—but no meat-eaters are allowed.
That means that even on Mars we could still enjoy the musical stylings of longtime vegetarian Paul McCartney. And it's a good thing that Elon's shuttles will likely be made without animal skins, because Macca won't ride in a vehicle with leather seats.
To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Ne-Yo is making it a happy New Year for animals: The rapper has resolved to go vegan in 2013. When Ne-Yo first tweeted his New Year's resolution, he deemed it a discipline test. But after he learned about the cruelty of the meat and dairy industries, he said that there was "much more meaning to it." PETA sent him vegan dining expert chef Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook: Delicious Vegan Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat, a vegetarian/vegan starter kit, and fellow music legend Paul McCartney's meat industry exposé, "Glass Walls."
Ne-Yo has been keeping his Twitter followers up to date on his progress and has received an outpouring of support, as have animals:
Maybe Ne-Yo will give Anderson Cooper the inspiration that he needs to help him make the switch. When Anderson invited vegan Alan Cumming onto his show, the pair noshed on meat-free chicken wings and Anderson talked about his vegan aspirations.
PETA friend Kelly Osbourne says it was her boyfriend, vegan chef Matthew Mosshart, who helped her drop pounds and feel better. "That's because he cooks for me! He's a vegan chef so he makes sure I eat healthily," she says. "I'm happy with how I look now."
Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are happy with how their family looks now, with the addition of their new rescued dog, Ren. They took the pup in as foster parents, but it took the couple only a few days to make it official. PETA sent Ren a homecoming present of treats and toys.
As a vegan, Jessica Chastain has famously said, "I don't want to torture anything in my life." And shooting disturbing torture scenes for the upcoming film Zero Dark Thirty, which details the hunt for and takedown of Osama bin Laden, was understandably rough on the actor. But Jessica revealed how she and director Kathryn Bigelow got through it: "During the week that we were filming the interrogations, we sent each other videos of animals being rescued. It was so emotional for me because I rescue dogs and so does she. That's the kind of stuff that was going on behind the scenes. Like, this is not our lives, we are not these characters, there's a place that is waiting for us."
Many of us have experienced how an animal's love can get us through tough times. Anjelica Huston believes it's high time for us to return the favor and help heal the wounds of chimpanzees who have been confined to laboratories and experimented on. She penned an impassioned article urging everyone to support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, which would free all federally owned chimpanzees and retire them to peaceful, spacious sanctuaries.
Paul McCartney is advocating for turkeys to be freed from the fate of ending up as holiday centerpieces. The legendary musician and animal advocate posed for a new "Say No, Thanks to Turkey" Thanksgiving ad for PETA and reposted it on his Facebook page as a reminder before Christmas.
And scores of other celebrities shared animal-friendly reminders with their Twitter followers:
Congratulations are in order for one of our favorite compassionate couples: Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Channing Tatum are expecting their first bundle of joy. With parents like that, we know that their child will be beautiful inside and out.
The Goddess of Pop is also a goddess to pups. When Cher tweeted, asking for information from PETA on how to help dogs left to face the harsh winter weather alone outdoors, many of her fans responded, and PETA sent her information on our "Angels for Animals" doghouse sponsorship program.
Elsewhere on Twitter, Miley Cyrus showed us some puppy love, Sam Simon spoke out for dolphins, and Olivia Munn helped us celebrate our victory for three soon-to-be-released elephants.
Charlotte Bobcats and Kentucky Wildcats fans already knew that the NBA's youngest player, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (MKG), is also a really kind person, and now MKG is proving it to animal advocates, too. When the gentle giant was ready to share his home with a new dog, he adopted a puppy who had been abandoned in the parking lot of the Humane Society of Charlotte.
Maybe fellow rescued-dog parent Chelsea Handler will invite Michael and his new pup on her show. Her conversations with guests often do turn to animal issues—like when Marion Cotillard stopped by and she and Chelsea both shared their disdain for SeaWorld.
You'll never catch our buddy Christian Serratos at SeaWorld, either—but you will catch her gracing the list of the 50 Brightest Latino Stars Under 25, with fellow PETA pals Daniella Monet and Marlen Esparza.
Awards abound for animal advocates this week: Paul McCartney, Pink, Carrie Underwood, Steve Aoki, Ellen DeGeneres, Trent Reznor, and Tegan and Sara have all been nominated for Grammys!
E!'s Catt Sadler lifted her voice for animals this week, too. She openly joined the ranks of the fur-free and fabulous in her piece "Real Stars Who Love Fake Fur," in which she name-dropped our friends Eva Mendes and Charlize Theron.
Chaka Khan says all she wants to do is keep eating vegan—because she no longer needs medication for type 2 diabetes. And as a bonus, the singer with the big voice is now quite a bit smaller—to the tune of 60 pounds!
Bethenny Frankel's little daughter Bryn probably doesn't even weigh 60 pounds yet, but she's already setting herself up for a lifetime of good health. Bethenny says the 2-year-old chooses not to eat meat but loves her veggies.
Vegan dynamo Ellen DeGeneres never lets an opportunity to speak up for animals pass her by—and she's making sure Adam Levine doesn't either. Adam was chatting with Ellen on her show about his new habit of holding up a piece of paper with a charitable message written on it when the shutterbugs are snapping his picture. So Ellen gave him the perfect ready-made sign: "Please rescue animals."
Steve-O says his dogs rescued him. He credits the love of his two rescued dogs with helping him kick drugs and alcohol. So he's helping dogs by urging other guardians to be kind to their pups and never force them to wear shock collars. "It's horribly painful," he says. "You have to be pretty cruel to put that on a dog."
Miley Cyrus is a gal on a mission to end animal homelessness and is making it a family affair. Miley and her family went straight to a rescue organization to adopt a dog, and she tweeted PETA her excitement over the new pup and the rescued pig PETA sponsored for her birthday.
Add Liam Gallagher to the list of outspoken animal-friendly celebrities. His clothing line, Pretty Green, is an oasis for animals who are typically killed for their fur—Liam proudly uses only faux.
Miley Cyrus' fans have watched her grow into a gorgeous young woman with a kind and compassionate heart, so to celebrate her 20th birthday on November 23, PETA is surprising Miley with something that she really wants.
© StarMaxInc.com
During a recent appearance on Ellen, Miley talked about how much she loves pigs, so PETA sponsored a very special pig in her honor. Nora, whom PETA helped rescue, is a resident at Kindred Spirits Sanctuary, a picturesque farm in Ocala, Florida, that gives refuge to animals who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, including pigs, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, horses, and donkeys.
Miley proved her affection for pigs when she retweeted a PETA action alert to her 10 million followers asking them to urge Walmart to ban its suppliers from cruelly confining pigs to tiny metal-barred gestation crates for months at a time.
And the singer's compassion for animals doesn't stop there. She lavishes love on her rescued dogs and consistently encourages people always to adopt and never buy. And she's striving to rid her diet of dairy products.
Miley's fans are awesome animal advocates, too. They've set up a special fundraising page where people can donate to PETA's lifesaving work for animals in honor of the compassionate birthday girl.
Happy birthday, Miley! We love you!
Written by Jeff Mackey
Thanksgiving is hell for turkeys. To make sure as many folks get this message as possible, here are three of our best holiday ads. Pick your favorite and share with friends to let them know why they should give turkeys a reason to be thankful, too:
"Would You Eat Your Dog?"
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"Turkey Terror"
"Grace"
Give everyone—including animals—something to be thankful for this holiday season by celebrating with a vegan feast.
Miley Cyrus might be ditching dairy products, and we're nodding our heads like "Yeah!"
It all started when Mileybird tweeted, "Worst tummy ache ever. No more lactose for me." We quickly responded to tell Miley that she wasn't alone and that she should be proud to be dairy-free. We included a link to information on delicious dairy-free milks and a link to one of our undercover investigations of a dairy farm, and Miley responded, "[O]h my god those photos make me feel even more sick. HAS GOT TO STOP!" Then she retweeted our action alert asking Walmart to ban its suppliers from cruelly confining pigs to gestation crates. If Miley wants help planning a vegan wedding, her friends here are happy to help …
It looks like there's a vegan baby shower in Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's future. The cruelty-free couple is expecting their first child, and PETA sent Kristen what might be her first gift: a copy of Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven.
There might be a new baby in Kristen Stewart's future as well. She and boyfriend Robert Pattinson are reportedly thinking about rescuing another dog.
Rescued dogs are always the rage on Twitter, like Krysten Ritter's little guy, Mikey.
And it's a battle of the accents for our favorite gal this week:
French beauty Marion Cotillard and SeaWorld are never, ever, ever getting back together. The actor plays a marine park trainer in the controversial new film Rust and Bone, and she says that seeing marine mammals in captivity made her believe that they deserve better. "I'd rather see whales in their own environment and not in a swimming pool," she said. "I will never go back to a SeaWorld."
Irish-bred Hollywood legend Anjelica Huston told O Magazine that she enjoys working with PETA because "I think we have to pay more attention to how we treat animals: the great apes trained for our entertainment, carriage horses left outside in intense heat and cold, polar bears confined in zoos. Animals can't talk, so it's up to us to speak for them."
Aussie actor and vegetarian Sophie Monk is designing a diamond jewelry collection and plans to donate 10 percent of the proceeds to help PETA save animals.
And everyone's favorite animal-friendly designer, Stella McCartney, is the Brits' favorite designer, too: She was named British Designer of the Year, proving that compassion is always in fashion and never has to include skins stolen from animals.
Is Bill Clinton's healthy diet rubbing off on his wife? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in a vegan state of mind on her birthday, celebrating with her family and a vegan cake.
The Clintons might be a power couple for decades to come: Bob Barker names his vegetarian diet as the reason for his longevity and vivacity, telling Vegetarian Times, "I became a vegetarian out of concern for animals, and I was a vegetarian for a very long time before I realized that many people become vegetarians out of concern for their health. I think they are absolutely right. I think it is the healthiest way to live. I worked until I was 83 years old."
Ever wondered what made country cutie Carrie Underwood first ditch meat? Now we know. On VH1's Behind the Music, she described seeing her parents castrate calves. "And lightbulb," she said. "I was horrified and sad and I just couldn't believe this was happening, you know, in our pasture."
Another vegan singer, Renee Olstead, might have made a certain magazine editor cringe recently when she prominently rep'd PETA in an interview. We've had our famous run-ins with furry Vogue editor Anna Wintour, but in Renee's Teen Vogue interview, the singer and actor proudly declared, "I love animals. I'm getting ready to do a campaign with PETA. I went vegetarian when I was twelve, and I went vegan about a year and a half ago."
Staunchly fur-free Mayte Garcia just made the list of the hottest reality stars. Would her naked ad for PETA have had anything to do with that?
One of the hottest former reality stars, Lauren Conrad, has a reason to celebrate as well: She just adopted a new puppy, Fitz, from a shelter. Fitz scored some "welcome home" toys and treats from PETA to share with his new canine sister, rescued dog Chloe.
The Los Angeles City Council's vote to ban stores from selling animals who came from breeders and puppy mills was a hot topic on Twitter this week, as were the bill that could end the Canadian seal slaughter and protecting animals during Hurricane Sandy.
To keep up with what all your favorite celebs are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake traveled to Italy to tie the knot and snatched up a wedding gift from PETA that was sure to delight the devoted dog guardians: Daisy Dog Studio's Tea for Two Teapot.
And while everyone was busy tweeting about Jessica and Justin's wedding, they didn't forget about animals:
After years of being teased by their buddy, vegetarian Wu-Tang Clan member GZA, about eating meat, Method Man and Redman have gone vegetarian. Considering that PETA pal Masta Killa is also vegetarian, perhaps the next album that Wu-Tang drops will have an ode to veggies?
The stars of The Big Bang Theory didn't have to travel to space to get vegan food all over their faces (although they probably would have enjoyed that). They just competed in a vegan pie-eating contest.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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