Tennessee lawmakers passed the state's proposed "ag-gag" bill, which would require video shot on factory farms in order to expose animal abuse to be turned over to law enforcement within 48 hours. The governor has 10 days to sign or veto the bill, and Tennessee resident Carrie Underwood is determined to stop the unconstitutional bill in its tracks. She expressed her outrage over Twitter: "Shame on TN lawmakers for passing the Ag Gag bill. If Gov. Bill Haslam signs this, he needs to expect me at his front door. Who's with me?" 

Advocates for animals and free speech can join Carrie by tweeting polite messages to @BillHaslam. 

As always, scores of celebrities reached millions of Twitter users with animal-friendly messages this week:

The mercury is just now starting to rise, but Eva Mendes is already devising ways to make the fall fur-free. Disappointed that designers continue to use real fur, she is releasing her own animal-friendly evening-wear collection. Eva, who proved that she would rather go naked than wear fur, told Look magazine, "Within the fashion industry I can't believe designers still use real fur in their designs when it's so easy to make faux fur. It's cheap and looks great."

And speaking of rising mercury, feast your eyes on PETA India's newest spokesperson, Vidyut Jammwal. You may not be familiar with this Bollywood star and his veggie-powered bod just yet, but you will soon want to be. As one PETA director put it, "Everyone deserves to be able to cast their eyes on him."

Had enough heat? If not, then check out our buds, fellow adoption advocates Mickey Rourke and Kellan Lutz, in their hot new thriller, Java Heat. 

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter. 

Update: April 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET: Although bebe acknowledged receipt of PETA's cease-and-desist letter and promised us a response, PETA has not received one and bebe continues to misrepresent itself to the public as a fur-free company. So PETA has filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) regarding the retailer's consumer deception. The bureau can now ask bebe to resolve PETA's grievance. It can also post our complaint to bebe's BBB webpage, which could negatively impact the company's BBB rating.

Originally posted on January 28 at 11:25 a.m. ET:

As everyone knows, some customers won't shop for anything in a store that sells fur, just as they won't buy "pet" supplies in a store that sells animals. Even though bebe currently sells rabbit and chinchilla fur in some of its stores, on two separate occasions—one as recent as January 15—callers to bebe's customer service line were told that bebe doesn't sell fur. One caller recorded her conversation, which you can listen to here. PETA's attorneys have sent a cease-and-desist advisory to Steve Birkhold, bebe's CEO, letting him know that if bebe doesn't either start being honest with customers or actually stop selling real fur, PETA may take the company from the mall to the courthouse for engaging in false advertising, which is a violation of both state and federal laws.

It's no wonder that bebe wants to cover up the fact that it's selling real fur. In China, where bebe sources much of its fur, workers pull rabbits out of cages by their ears and stun the screaming animals with electrical devices. And in China as well as other countries, animals are bludgeoned to death, electrocuted, and often even skinned alive, as documented in this undercover footage. 

As bebe is likely learning, few people are willing to patronize retailers that support such cruelty. Let bebe know that you are one of many potential customers who will refuse to buy its clothing until its shelves truly are fur-free.

Trendsetting U.K.-based retailer Topshop teamed up with PETA U.K. to make over the window of its Oxford Street flagship store for the weekend and send a message to shoppers that exotic skins are not in. (Take that, Beyoncé.)

In order to make handbags, shoes, and Super Bowl halftime outfits, snakes are commonly nailed to trees and skinned alive, and alligators and lizards are bludgeoned with hammers. It can take several agonizing hours for the animals to die, usually from shock or dehydration. Watch PETA's shocking exposé, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, to learn more about the suffering that lies behind those crocodile backpacks and python pumps. Reptiles may be cold-blooded, but wearing their skins is cold-hearted.

Please follow Topshop's lead (it doesn't sell fur or exotic skins) and pledge to keep wildlife out of your wardrobe.

Take the Pledge. 

It's Cyber Monday, the day when online shoppers can find deals on everything from flat screens to flat sheets. But there's one retailer whose sales should just flatline: bebe.

Why throw bebe out with the bathwater? Unlike many of its compassionate competitors—including J.Crew, Talbots, and Limited Brands—bebe has begun selling real fur. The company apparently thinks that nothing screams "festive" like animals screaming while the skin is ripped off their bodies.

So five animals whose friends and family members are often killed for their fur are here to show everyone that real fur looks good only on its original owner and to ask you to make bebe a no-no this holiday season. 

1. Rabbits are hopping mad at bebe.

2. Dogs want you to walk them, not wear them. 

3. Foxes need your help to outfox cruel companies that still sell fur.

4. Cats are ready to give bebe some serious catitude. 

5. Chinchillas are chatterboxes when they're together, and you can bet they would have plenty to say about bebe's fur coats. 

Please tell bebe that you won't buy while animals die and urge the company to finally ditch fur furever.

London Fashion Week hasn't even started yet, but already up-and-coming British designer George Nemsadze's dress made of nori (the seaweed paper used in sushi) is getting media attention. Our thoughts? Love it!

Then again, seaweed, schmeaweed—PETA's been making clothes out of lettuce for years:

As well as out of cucumber and kiwi:

© Photo: Ricardo Sanit-Cyr, Stylist/makeup artist: Isabella Scott, Splurge Studios Production

asparagus:

© Photo: www.sebreephoto.com, Hair: Lorenzo Martin for True Beauty, Makeup: Mitzi Spallas for Cloutier, Dress: Mia Gyzander Costumes, Inc. 

and beans:

© Le Studio (Paris) Design, Daniel Jasiak, Photography: Martine Houghton 

The seaweed dress is a thousand times prettier (and more eco-friendly) than the foul-smelling clothes that designers have made out of milk or meat, and with the increasing demand for animal-friendly clothes, vegan clothing lines are set to knock our succotash socks off.  

Most fashion trends don't last beyond a season, but here's one ancient trend that's still en vogue: shunning leather for Yom Kippur. Of course, on the Jewish Day of Atonement, it would be tough to expiate while wrapped in the skin of an animal who had his or her throat cut and was possibly skinned and dismembered while still conscious. But PETA's shocking undercover video shows why wearing leather is never kosher.

We can all be benevolent to bovines every day of the year with drop-dead-gorgeous faux-leather clothes and accessories that no one had to drop dead for.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Lea Michele is no stranger to accolades. The Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated star of Glee—who will also be honored for her work with PETA at Variety's Third Annual Power of Women luncheon later this month—gets rave reviews for her singing and acting talents. Lea's style is a showstopper as well, as she graces the cover of the fall fashion issue of Harper's Bazaar. But one thing that Lea leaves out of her wardrobe on and off the set is fur.

Fall is officially here, so before you think about wearing any fur or fur trim, check out Lea's anti-fur PSA and make your fashionable night out fur-free!

How would you celebrate your 58th birthday? If you're the indefatigable Chrissie Hynde, you would start a new band (JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys), put out a new album (Fidelity!), and develop a new eco-friendly clothing line (Fairground Luck).

Coming from Chrissie, the clothing line will of course feature T-shirts, skinny jeans, pleather jackets, handbags, and boots with a rocker-chick vibe and will be 100 percent vegan.

"Like most women, I love fashion and clothes," Hynde told Women's Wear Daily. "Everybody will be able to find everything they love in a nonleather version. Fashion should be fun."

No word on when Fairground Luck clothing will be appearing in a shopping mall near you, but Fidelity! hits online stores today, and we have a couple of copies available for some lucky PETA Files readers. Post a comment below telling us why you think Chrissie is the coolest, rockingest, sassiest animal defender ever to pick up a guitar, and the two comments that make us want to run out and protest with Chrissie will win the CDs.

The contest ends on August 27, 2010, and we'll select the winners on August 30, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Alisa Mullins

A photo essay in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar features celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe—whose catch phrase is "I die"—being knocked off by various designers. We were struck by how easily the photo in which infamously furry Project Runway judge Michael Kors "bags" Zoe could be mistaken for a PETA ad:

I thought PETA had the market cornered on using corpses to highlight the fact that fur—and all animal skins—are dead, as in this spooky PETA ad featuring former Twin Peaks star Sheryl Lee:

Thanks, Michael, for helping make the case for us. Maybe this is the first step toward bagging fur and exotic skins.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Project Runway's eighth season premieres tonight, and coincidentally I just heard about an opportunity to let judge Michael Kors know what we think of his designs—which include real fur. Kors tweeted that he will be answering questions from his fans in a Facebook video on August 4. Let's take him up on his offer and flood him with questions, such as "Did you know that animals are skinned alive for their fur?" and "With all the luxurious faux furs that are available, why do you continue to kill animals?" or maybe "Would you submit to a brain scan to see if your empathy neurons are underdeveloped?"

Perhaps your question will be the nudge that Kors needs to get him to follow the lead of Runway star and PETA's 2009 Man of the Year Tim Gunn. Tim narrated PETA's video exposing what animals endure for fashion, he ensures that Project Runway's challenges are never fur-related, and he has worked to make a fur-free zone out of Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.

Let's all urge Michael Kors to say "auf Wiedersehen" to fur! E-mail your questions to: events@michaelkors.com

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post