The Power of Lea Michele

‘Tis the season for awards and accolades, and one person everyone is talking about is Glee star and PETA supporter Lea Michele. For her dedicated work with PETA to end animals’ suffering, Lea was one of the Lifetime Impact Honorees at Variety magazine’s annual Power of Women event. In her acceptance speech, Lea highlighted the cause closest to her heart—horse-drawn carriages. Watch her moving speech, which you can only see here on The PETA Files, and learn about her journey and activism with PETA:

Lea narrated a shocking undercover video, which has shown countless people how horses suffer when they are forced to pull heavy carriages all day long in all weather extremes on busy city streets. In the past month alone, three horses have been involved in accidents, including a horse named Charlie, who collapsed in the street and died. Lea promptly fired off a letter urging Mayor Bloomberg to end carriage rides.

An auction organized as part of the Power of Women is helping raise funds for the honorees’ selected nonprofits. Check out (and bid on) the custom-designed dress Lea wore to this year’s Met Gala that she donated to benefit PETA.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan