Media mogul Russell Simmons talks to PETA’s Dan Mathews about fur, food and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—and turns rap’s fur-wearing, bad-boy reputation on its ear.

The driving force behind rap and hip hop’s wild popularity, Russell Simmons is the cofounder of Def Jam Records, the label for the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Jay-Z and other rap legends.

Simmons also has a new magazine, One World, a television show, One World TV, on Black Entertainment Television and a hugely successful line of menswear, Phat Farm. At the time of this interview, Simmons was preparing to launch Baby Phat, a women’s clothing line, and planning a vegan line called No Animal Phat.

Dan: Are you a vegetarian?

Russell: I became a vegetarian about four years ago, and I stopped eating milk, eggs and all animal products about three years ago. A big part of it was health, at the beginning, and then the more I went to vegetarian restaurants and the more I talked to other vegetarians, the more I was reminded of the stuff I saw in John Robbins’ video “Diet for a New America” [available from PETA]. First, you see how you’re going to kill yourself by eating meat. You watch the tape again, and it reminds you about the animals, then it reminds you about the environment. You become less selfish. You start to see things in a different way. My wife, Kimora, once told me while we were watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that that’s a vegetarian movie. The way that woman was screaming, “Aaaahhh,” and she’s running away—that’s how every animal you eat is running for his life. That kind of freaked me out.

Dan: So being vegan has affected your life in a lot of ways.

Russell: I wake up in the morning, most mornings, and vow to be better. It's inspired me. You go to Johnny Rockets and have a veggie burger—your friend has a regular burger. He falls asleep—you go jogging. There’s an obvious, tremendous difference in how you feel. And milk is poison. I don’t eat any animal products under any circumstance at all. The point is, sometimes I can influence people. A lot of hip hoppers don't eat meat now because of health reasons and some because of spiritual reasons.

Dan: What about clothing?

Russell: I’m more conscious of it all the time. I’ve changed a lot over the last couple of years. I think the animals are becoming more and more my focus. I would never make a mink coat. I look at my dog, Zoe, and it’s like, if I wore fur, I’d be wearing Zoe. I’m not all the way there yet, but I see such abuse of the environment and animals. It’s a personal evolution, and my evolution has affected a lot of people around me.

I also plan to do a whole No Animal Phat line of clothes that is totally vegan. We’re just launching Baby Phat now. But the Baby Phat campaign really needs the No Animal Phat “fur” collection.

You know how Gucci put out all those different furs?I mean, that’s ridiculous. You make a green fur—it doesn’t have to look real, because at the end of the day, green fur doesn’t look real. So what’s the point? Why use real animals for it?

Dan: There’s a great factory in France that makes incredible fake fur.

Russell: That’s the kind of thing we need. In the urban community, it has to be really high-quality fake fur. It’s got to be part of some whole aspirational quality. The hip hop community is really about the American dream. They want everything on television. Hip hop kids—and it’s crossed over to white kids—want the things their parents didn’t get. The urban community moves like an army in a lot of ways. If they say it’s cool to wear fake fur, you’ll change the world.

Dan: Stella McCartney and Todd Oldham, who work with PETA, are trying to do that. Calvin Klein watched our fur farm video and stopped using fur.

Russell: You guys are the scary ones, aren’t you? You throw paint on people.

Russell with wife Kimora Lee

Dan: We use paint in protests...

Russell: Oh, I’m not saying this because I think your tactics are bad! I mean, these animals are dying! If I come out and I have fur on the collar or the hood of my coat and you curse me for it, you know, I’ve got to live with it.

Dan: We give cards that say, “There’s no excuse for wearing fur,” to people wearing fur coats or trim.

Russell: “There’s no excuse”—that’s the main thing I say. There’s no excuse. Because no matter how much you rationalize, there’s no excuse. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to be a better person.

Dan: We’ve gone to homeless shelters and given away furs to the homeless, because they are the only people who have any sort of excuse to wear fur.

Russell: It’s good that you promote the idea that it’s bad and then give it away, because it’s done. I mean, I know a lot of people who think fur’s OK because the animals are already dead, but the point is to prevent them from being killed.

Dan: It’s easier now than ever to avoid all animal products because there are so many alternatives. Have you had the Tofutti pizzas with soy “cheese”? They’re incredible.

Russell: We love Tofutti. I want to start a frozen food line, too. And I’ll go and sit on Oprah and promote it and talk about all the reasons why and...the cowboys will shoot me! Will they shoot me?

Dan: Nah! Oprah went down to Texas after she said that she had given up beef. She was sued by the cattle industry and brought her show down to Texas during the trial—and she won.

Russell: All right, so that’s what I’m doing. Meanwhile, I wish PETA lots of good things in your work, and I look forward to working together with you.