‘Billie Eilish Is Right’: PETA Backs Up Singer’s Vegan Appeal With Massive Times Square Message
For Immediate Release:
May 12, 2026
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
After Billie Eilish ignited a heated debate by declaring in an interview that “eating meat is inherently wrong” and that people can’t love animals and eat meat at the same time, a new nationwide blitz of messages in support of the singer’s announcement courtesy of PETA is going up around the country—starting with a sky-high appeal in Times Square. The gigantic display—next to McDonald’s and Popeye’s—is giving passersby food for thought, including fans headed to watch Billie’s new concert film at the AMC and Regal theaters on 42nd Street.
Eilish’s comments caused an uproar among defensive meat-eaters, prompting her to double down on Instagram and share graphic footage with her more than 125 million followers showing calves being kicked and thrown into trucks, twitching pigs being dragged across the slaughterhouse floor and bashed in the head, and other horrors of the meat and dairy industries.
“[G]o watch a documentary or two and some footage of what is done to the animals u claim to love and what it does to the planet u pretend to love as well,” she wrote. “[I]f that footage was hard for u to watch I encourage u to pls take a look at urself.” And many of her followers did—with people posting that Eilish opened their eyes, including, “Billie Eilish made me go vegan” and “Just saw Billie’s Instagram story. I am now a vegetarian.”
“If you claim to love animals but you’re still eating them, you’re lying to yourself, and Billie Eilish and PETA aren’t afraid to say it,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “Helping animals, the environment, and our own health is as easy as leaving animals off our plates, and PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone make the switch.”
PETA points out that pigs are soothed by music, cows mourn when a loved one dies or when they’re separated from each other, and chickens enjoy taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and lying in the sun. Yet in the meat, egg, and dairy industries, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds; chickens’ throats are cut while they’re still conscious; piglets are castrated without painkillers; and cows in the dairy industry have their babies torn away from them shortly after birth.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint, and slashes their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity.
PETA’s billboard is located at 1530 Broadway in New York.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a cow is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
