Written by Jeff Mackey
Lady Gaga has plenty of fans—especially in the gay community, which she has embraced so fervently. Gay Gaga fans at PETA loved her all the more when she came out against fur, telling Ellen DeGeneres, "I hate fur and I don't wear fur." But recent furry Gaga photos show that the Lady may be a turncoat. So PETA VP Dan Mathews has written to Gaga to find out if she's become a "Judas" to animals:
Dear Gaga,
Many of your gay fans, I among them, have long admired what you told Ellen: "I hate fur and I don't wear fur." I included a link because these recent photos of you in fox and rabbit and with a wolf carcass make it appear that you have amnesia. I'm also including this brief video hosted by Tim Gunn showing the violent cruelty that you promote when you wear fur. What happened? Are your stylists telling you that it's fake, or are you a turncoat? Many gays are animal advocates because we recognize that the same arrogance and indifference that some have toward animal suffering has at times been directed toward us personally because of our orientation. PETA has long participated in Pride events around the country, and just last week, we helped lead protests against Chick-fil-A. But by wearing those dumb furs in a heat wave, you're making yourself a target just like the mindless Kim Kardashian. As we plan our fall campaigns, please tell us whether what you gracefully told Ellen was heartfelt or just a pose.
We await your reply.
Sincerely,
Dan Mathews
Senior Vice President
PETA
Gaga has refused to say whether the furs that she has been wearing are fake, so won't you chime in to try and get her to reply?
Written by Michelle Kretzer
"I just think about these animals that are there for months …. And the way they kill them—it's just not needed, it's not a necessity," said actor Mayte Garcia, speaking out against fur farms on the set of the new ad she shot for PETA. "Doing this shoot and getting into the cage and putting on the fur coat—it was overwhelming," she added. But while being caged and drenched in blood isn't anyone's idea of a good time, Mayte is hopeful that her graphic ad will make people think twice about buying the skins of animals who, as the ad makes clear, were "electrocuted, stomped on, beaten, and skinned alive."
Photo: Kawai Matthews/AirPhilosphy.com Hair/makeup: Molly Greenwald/www.mollygreenwald.com
"[I]f I can educate one person to how these animals are treated, then I'll do it again," Mayte said on her reality show, VH1's Hollywood Exes, which filmed her PETA shoot. (Mayte is the famous "Hollywood ex" of Prince.) In this behind-the-scenes video, Mayte revealed the childhood experiences that made her want to speak up for animals and why she believes that everyone should adopt homeless animals instead of buying from breeders and pet stores, spay and neuter their animals, go vegetarian, and, of course, refuse to wear real fur.
Follow Mayte's lead in standing up to the fur industry by joining the thousands of people who have already signed our Pledge to Be Fur-Free, and always speak out about the cruelty of fur.
International model Austin Armacost is used to mouths dropping open when he passes by, but we doubt anyone will be able to pick their jaws up off the floor after they've seen the ad Austin shot last week for PETA's naked anti-fur campaign. The star of The A-List: New York walked a runway completely nude to show that it's much more comfortable to be in your own skin than someone else's. Here's a sneak peek behind the scenes:
Photo: Aaron Cobbett
As a gay model, I have always been dismayed that some otherwise progressive people in the gay fashion pack have such disregard for the animals who are skinned alive for coats, collars, or cuffs—including my ex Marc Jacobs
Austin hopes that by, ahem, exposing his views, he can appeal to designers and stylists and persuade them to join Calvin Klein and the many other fashion icons who now avoid fur like a Westboro Baptist Church picnic.
Cheering Austin on from the front row were Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, Marie Claire's Sergio Kletnoy, rapper Cazwell, Austin’s A-List co-stars Ryan Nickulas and Derek Saathoff, animal advocate extraordinaire Simone Reyes, and many others.
The ad will launch just in time for New York Fashion Week and feature a strategically placed QR code that will take smartphone users to the fur industry exposé that Tim Gunn narrated for PETA.
As PETA pal Bill Maher prepares to perform in Alberta and British Columbia, he's proved that he's a stand-up guy in a different sense by sending a letter to Bob Rae, leader of Canada's Liberal Party, urging him to support Sen. Mac Harb's bill to end the commercial seal slaughter.
Photo courtesy of Bill Maher
Bill joins celebrities, including Pamela Anderson, Pink, Olivia Munn, Russell Simmons, Tommy Lee, Alicia Silverstone, Dave Navarro, Joanna Krupa, Megan Park, and many others, who have voiced their support for the momentous bill and encouraged their fans to do the same.
Bill has been a vocal opponent of the annual seal massacre, and his letter comes just weeks after the Senate agreed to continue the debate. Many appeals have already been made to the conservatives, who hold a majority, so Bill chose to address the Liberal Party, mentioning that he hadn't expected much from the conservatives but that he "had hoped for more" from the liberals.
© Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Be like Bill—compassionate Canadians can contact their senators directly, but no matter where you're from, please urge Canada's leaders to support Sen. Harb's bill today.
Olympian Michael Phelps adopted his new pooch, Stella, and promptly started honing her ability to swim. We're sure Michael already qualifies as a hero to Stella even before the London games!
Paul McCartney has schooled many a musician in rock 'n' roll, and now he wants to school children in going vegetarian. He's encouraging schools to join his "Meat Free Mondays" campaign and offer students vegetarian options at lunch.
Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky and Switched at Birth actor Constance Marie joined Paul's chorus, jumping in with the host of other celebs tweeting for animals this week and promoting "Meat Free Mondays" and the veggie life.
The role of WNBA star Candace Parker in the L.A. Sparks' win last Wednesday earned her a Player of the Week nod, but she plays for animals every week by working with PETA to fight fur.
Photo: Jason Grow/www.jasongrow.com|Hair and makeup: Lauren Genatossio for Team Artist Representative
With another fur foe, Aimee Teegarden, cast in the starring role, you can bet that the CW Television Network's new show, The Selection, billed as "the next Hunger Games," will be decidedly fur-free.
To keep up with what all your fave stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Tonight on The Real Housewives of Orange County, viewers will see Vicki Gunvalson in fur for the last time. When she received a mink coat as a gift on last week's episode, PETA immediately sent her our video exposé of the fur industry narrated by none other than fashion guru Tim Gunn.
As soon as she saw that her coat was made of animals who had been beaten, electrocuted, or skinned alive, Gunvalson refused to wear fur again. In a statement to Bravo TV's The Dish, Gunvalson revealed:
The world has changed and I must change as well. Fur, while it was never something I needed or specifically wanted, it was in my mindset as something glamorous and a sign of success for a woman. That is no longer the case. When PETA sent me video footage of investigations on fur farms, I was horrified by the cruelty involved. These animals endure terrible pain and this cruelty is something I do not want to ever be a part of. After seeing what happens in this industry, I have chosen to partner with PETA to raise awareness and will not wear fur in the future.
The world has changed and I must change as well. Fur, while it was never something I needed or specifically wanted, it was in my mindset as something glamorous and a sign of success for a woman. That is no longer the case.
When PETA sent me video footage of investigations on fur farms, I was horrified by the cruelty involved. These animals endure terrible pain and this cruelty is something I do not want to ever be a part of. After seeing what happens in this industry, I have chosen to partner with PETA to raise awareness and will not wear fur in the future.
Gunvalson joins a growing list of celebrities, including Sharon Osbourne, Bethenny Frankel, Lea Michele, Eva Mendes, Olivia Munn, Joanna Krupa, and others, who publicly shun fur.
Gunvalson asks any Real Housewives fans who are still harboring fur in their closets to join her in donating it to PETA.
The, um, cheeky comedy stylings of Doug Stanhope may cause the oh-so-proper "ladies who lunch" crowd to suffer a fit of the vapors. But for the irreverent folks out there, Doug's point of view will be quite refreshing (check out his latest release on iTunes 'til you can catch him live), especially when it comes to matters involving animals.
Recently, Doug sat down to talk with PETA about the ridiculousness of "working animals" at SeaWorld and in circuses, the idiocy of fur-wearers, and his adopted animal companions. Enjoy!
Internationally renowned primatologist and animal rights activist Dr. Jane Goodall is being honored by the Tournament of Roses as the grand marshal of the 2013 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. The timing of the honor couldn't be better, as Chimpanzee, a film she helped make, has been popular with moviegoers and Congress is currently considering the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, which would ban invasive experiments on chimpanzees.
Fellow great ape defender Anjelica Huston is working to end fur farming in Ireland, where she grew up. Writing to Ireland's minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Anjelica, who used to wear fur but ditched it after she learned about the cruelty inherent in the industry, urged him to "follow through on the commitment to add Ireland to the growing list of countries – including Northern Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, and Great Britain – that have banned the cruel practice of fur farming."
Taraji P. Henson and Elisabetta Canalis strutted their fur-free stuff this week. Taraji gave animal advocates a howling good time with her box-office–topping film Think Like a Man, and Elisabetta gave her advocacy some Italian flair, tweeting a lovely message in Italian encouraging fans to read the 20th anniversary edition of Free the Animals.
Sophia Bush wants to free animals from military trauma training. She tweeted the link to PETA's video exposé showing goats who were mutilated, writing, "I support our troops. But I cannot in good conscience support 'training' exercises like these. This cruelty must stop."
Other celebs were all a-twitter for animals this week, too:
It looks like former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley took former President Bill Clinton's advice and went vegetarian, dropping some unwanted pounds in the process.
Another famous Chicagoan, Derrick Rose, introduced his new basketball shoe, the adiZero Rose 2, and the Chicago Bulls point guard is making bulls very happy—his shoes are completely leather-free.
A cobra—Cobra Starship frontman and vegetarian hottie Gabe Saporta—made the list of the 50 Most Beautiful Latinos in Hollywood, along with PETA buddies Penélope Cruz, Eva Mendes, Vida Guerra, Roselyn Sanchez, and Ana Ortiz.
Canadian-born Pamela Anderson got a warm reception when she met with a representative from Germany's Trade Ministry to deliver PETA's seal appeal. She asked him to encourage the European Commission and the World Trade Organization to dismiss Canada's challenge of Europe's ban on seal products.
Pam explained that most Canadians stand firmly with Germany and support the ban on seal products and the inevitable end of the seal slaughter.
"As the vast majority of Germans want the seal slaughter to end," her hand-delivered letter read, "including the more than 40,000 people in Germany who have urged Canada's prime minister to put a stop to it, I'm writing to ask that you please do all in your power to ensure that the E.U. ban on seal products remains in place."
Knowing Germany's progressive stance on the seal slaughter and the representative's positive visit with Pam, we're confident that the Trade Ministry will do exactly that.
Following discussions with PETA, PUMA—one of the world's largest designers and developers of sports footwear, apparel, and accessories—has pledged never to use animal fur, wool that comes from mulesed (i.e., mutilated) Australian sheep, or exotic-animal skins. How appropriate that a company named after one of nature's most beautiful animals would help protect so many others!
Photo: Nick Saglimbeni for SlickForceStudio|Hair and makeup: Glenn Nutley for Celestine Agency|Body art: Nelly Rechhia for Aim Artists
For help in making animal-friendly choices, check out PETA's cruelty-free shopping guide.
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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