Go Vegan, for Cluck’s Sake! PETA Asks ‘Hot Ones’ to Leave Birds in Peace

For Immediate Release:
September 11, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

PETA’s bringing the heat! Today, PETA sent a sizzling proposal to Hot Ones host Sean Evans, urging him to make vegan wings the default option, ensuring the only ones who will suffer for the hit celebrity interview show are the guests. If Evans agrees to the meat-free switch, PETA will name two rescued chickens “Sean” and “Evan” in his honor.

In its letter, PETA points out that Hot Ones “didn’t lose an ounce of spice” when numerous celebrity guests—including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lewis Hamilton, and Natalie Portman—chose to eat vegan wings, which help spare countless chickens from extreme confinement, painful injuries, and terrifying slaughter in the meat industry.

“The searing pain from eating the hottest wing in the world is nothing compared to the agony many chickens feel when they’re dunked into scalding de-feathering tanks at slaughterhouses,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA encourages Sean Evans to make Hot Ones as kind as it is spicy by serving only vegan wings that leave chickens in peace.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Evans follows.

Dear Sean,

You’ve sat across from some of the biggest names in the world as their eyes watered and their voices cracked from the heat. But nothing on Hot Ones comes close to what chickens endure before ending up on a plate, so we’ve got a hot tip for you: make vegan wings the default. We promise neither your guests nor your viewers will notice the change. But you know who would? Chickens. After all, the only ones who should be suffering for the sake of the show are the guests braving your sauces, not the birds.

Hot Ones is famous for its scalding wings, but that heat is nothing compared to the scalding tanks many chickens are dropped into at slaughter – often while still conscious. Before that, they’re crammed into windowless sheds packed with tens of thousands of other birds, forced to stand in their own waste as ammonia burns their lungs and eyes. Many suffer broken legs under the unnatural weight of their genetically manipulated bodies.

Your show has already shown the way; guests from Billie Eilish to Lewis Hamilton have gone meat-free on Hot Ones, and the interviews didn’t lose an ounce of spice. If someone insists on eating the decomposing corpse of a small, tortured bird, let them ask for it. Kindness should be automatic.

Say yes, and we’ll name two rescued chickens after you, Sean and Evan, and send photos of them living safe, happy lives far from the meat industry. It will be the hottest move you’ve made on Hot Ones, and it has nothing to do with the sauce. Show the world that the real “last dab” is leaving cruelty behind.

Sincerely,

Nicole Cummins

Senior Officer, Celebrity Relations

PETA | Los Angeles