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.
Lea Michele is always helping animals win, and now it's Lea who's scooping up a trophy. At VH1's Do Something Awards, lovely Lea accepted the Do Something Award in the "TV Star: Female" category for her work with PETA and used her acceptance speech to remind the audience not to ride in cruel horse-drawn carriages.
Over on NBC, America's Got Talent judge Howard Stern used his critique of a performer with a cockatoo to speak up for birds used for food. "I recently stopped eating turkey and chicken and all birds and now I know why," he said. "They seem to have some sort of intelligence and I don't want to wreck their lives, so I'm not eating them anymore. I'm not, like, a bird vampire."
The singer who recorded the jingle for Marineland is now raising her voice against the notorious animal abuser. After eight former trainers publicly revealed that the park forced animals to swim in water so filthy that it blinded them and caused pieces of their skin to fall off, Suzie McNeil is trying to have her voice removed from Marineland's commercials and is encouraging people not to go to the park.
Lady Gaga found herself the target of massive backlash from fans, animal advocates, and fellow celebrities when she reneged on her vow not to wear fur and draped herself in the skins of foxes and rabbits. Russell Simmons wrote Lady Gaga a letter asking her to reconsider her support of the fur industry:
Lady Gaga, you are a great artist who has used your celebrity to fight for equality and fairness, so I know you are a compassionate loving human being who would not publicly defend others for their unconscious behavior. LET'S NOT SET OFF A CHAIN REACTION WHERE ARTISTS ACT AS SUPPORT FOR A SOCIETY'S UNCONSCIOUS BEHAVIOR. Let's instead do what artists have done throughout history and be on the side of love and compassion, because that is our natural state.
Olivia Munn, who starred in an anti-fur ad for PETA, tweeted, "When u see FUR, an animal was TORTURED for it. Watch this video & tell me if you think it's 'art'." As Olivia's fur-farm exposé makes clear, there is nothing artistic about skinning animals alive.
A host of other celebrities used their tweets to be sweet to animals:
To keep up with what your favorite celebrities are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
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?
Chelsea Handler is handling New York City's horse-drawn carriage problem by writing to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and asking him to support a proposal to replace the abused horses with vintage-replica electric cars, which she donated $15,000 to help build. "As if [the cars] weren't fabulous enough," she writes, "they also get a 10-12 hour drive on just one charge—even my vibrator doesn't do that."
The rescued dog guardian would be gleeful over Chris Colfer's new buddy. The Glee star tweeted, "I adopted a cat today from the West Valley Animal Shelter! His name is Brian, he's 8 years-old and 20 pounds! It was heartbreaking to see so many sweet animals needing homes. Please think about rescuing!" Go ahead and swoon.
And Lady Gaga now has two good romances in her life. The singer rescued a stray cat she named Polly and found her a home with Gaga's boyfriend Taylor Kinney of Vampire Diaries fame.
Not to be outdone, songbirds Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have reportedly gone vegan. People who won lunch with the couple report that they both ordered vegan food and talked about their healthy new eating habits. Can we look for Garth's new ode to raw foods, Cooking Outside the Fire perhaps?
Fiery rapper Waka Flocka Flame continues his quest to enlighten the hip-hop community about animal issues, with an interview in this month's XXL magazine. "The campaign I did with PETA was 'Ink Over Mink.' I never been a mink person period. I hate minks. I hate furs," he told the magazine. "I wouldn't put that s*** on and that was way before PETA. … It's just somethin' I stood by. Plus, I like dogs—my new PETA ad is for dogs. That's just what I stand for as a man."
To keep up with what the stars are doing right now to help animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Written by PETA
© StarmaxInc
As Lady Gaga heads to India to perform at the Formula One closing party, PETA India has an idea for her next statement outfit: a dress made of lettuce leaves.
Considering meat's monstrous impact on our health and the environment as well as the plight of animals who are dismembered for food while still conscious, PETA India asked Mother Monster to show her fans that even just reducing the amount of meat they eat (or wear) can help.
Will Lady Gaga step into the leaf dress and discover that she was born the herbivore way? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, you can use these free recipes to cook up some meatless dishes that you'll go gaga for.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Whoa! Joey Lawrence rescued a dog from a local animal shelter while filming in Australia. He called his new family member "the most amazing little thing ever." Another shelter dog—a pit bull who was rescued from a trash chute—has inspired Newark Mayor Cory Booker to build a new state-of-the-art animal shelter. And to further fight cruelty to animals, the mayor's also a vegetarian.
The Rev. Al Sharpton has made the heavenly decision to cut meat almost completely out of his diet too. And Lady Gaga will have to cut meat out of her wardrobe when she performs for Bill Clinton at the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow. The former pres told David Letterman, "In deference to my diet, she'll be meatless that night."
Speaking of cruelty-free garb, The Veronicas sent flowers to Australian designer Rachel Gilbert to thank her for ditching fur.
And just check out what these compassionate celebs had to say to their Twitter followers:
When they aren't starring on screen or on stage, many of the nominees in this year's Teen Choice Awards are starring in ads for PETA! There are heaps of hotties with hearts of gold and vegetarians vying for votes this year, so we hope that you'll encourage the animal-friendly teens in your life to cast their vote for compassion in every category. Here are our picks:
Adele Choice Music: Female Artist
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan, DirectorChoice Movie: Drama
Justin Bieber Choice Music: Male ArtistChoice TV: Villain, CSIChoice Male Hottie Choice Twit (for Twitter presence)Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon: Male
Russell Brand, Arthur Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
Ellen DeGeneresChoice Twit (for Twitter presence)Choice Comedian
Emily Deschanel, BonesChoice TV Actress: Drama
Lady Gaga Choice Music: Female Artist
Anne Hathaway, RioChoice Animated Movie: Voice
Eva Mendes, The Other Guys Choice Movie Actress: Comedy
Mila Kunis Choice Female Hottie
Jane Lynch, Glee Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star
Renee Olstead, The Secret Life of the American Teenager Choice TV Show: Drama
Jared Padalecki, Supernatural Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Grace Park, Hawaii Five-O Choice TV Show: ActionChoice TV Actress: Action
Audrina Patridge, Audrina Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star
Katy Perry Choice Music: Female Artist
Kellie Pickler Choice Music: Female Country Artist
Maggie Q, Nikita Choice TV Show: ActionChoice TV Actress: Action
Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck Choice TV Actress: Action
Carrie Underwood Choice Music: Female Country Artist
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids Choice Movie: ComedyChoice Movie Actress: ComedyChoice Movie: Hissy Fit
Glee Cast Choice Music: Group Choice TV Show: Comedy
Khloe & Lamar Choice TV: Reality Show
Linkin Park Choice Music: Rock Group
Modern Family Choice TV Show: Comedy
OneRepublic Choice Music: Rock Group
Picking the top 10 PETA Files blog posts of the past year was harder than figuring out the plot of Inception, but we've narrowed it down to these posts, which cover everything from Lady Gaga's meat dress to our "Pope Condom" campaign:
Which blog post got you the most fired up this year?
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Although it made countless compassionate fans wrinkle their noses (and made Eminem remark that it stank, and made Ellen DeGeneres back away), Lady Gaga's dress made from slabs of animal flesh is likely to be a popular Halloween costume this year. So PETA has an animal-friendly idea for vegan fans who want to dress up like Gaga without making people gag-a. How about a faux-meat frock, made from cotton instead of chopped steak?
Grab some fabric paints and plain white fabric—a couple of old, oversized T-shirts or even a sheet will serve nicely. Shape your dress with scissors, safety pins, and twine, and paint it with a rainbow of rotting flesh colors—red, brown, and a dab of purple, here and there. Of course, you'll want to leave some white visible to represent the marbled fat. (Gag!) We found instructions and this video tutorial online.
Or how about fashioning a phony-bologna bikini or a Tofurky tunic? The most important accessory is a visible label to indicate that no animals suffered to make the outfit. Print out this ready-made sign to show that your costume is cruelty-free:
With a Tim Gunn–style "make it work" attitude, it should be a cinch for you to create a killer Halloween costume that no animals had to die for.
Send us photos of your creation, and we might feature it in an upcoming blog post!
Written by Karin Bennett
According to The Mirror, Eminem refused to sit next to Lady Gaga at MTV's Video Music Awards because her decomposing flesh dress stank. A source relates, "Marshall said he didn't want to be sat next to a pile of raw meat all night. He said it smelled pretty bad." Good call, Eminem. According to Dr. Shawki Ibrahim, the chief scientific advisor for Grow Green Industries, Gaga's flesh frock was a health hazard, since it could potentially spread E. coli bacteria, which lives in animals' intestinal tracts and feces and frequently contaminates dead animal flesh. Hmm … yet another good reason not to wear or eat animals! We are hoping Lady Gaga reconsiders.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
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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