Your Dog Would Be Ashamed of You: PETA Urges Johnny Knoxville to Nix Show’s Animal-Abusing Gimmicks on ‘Fear Factor’

For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2026

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

With the Fear Factor: House of Fear reboot sticking with the series’ tired schtick of harassing terrified animals, ahead of tonight’s premiere, PETA sent a letter today to host Johnny Knoxville, pointing out that the rats, snakes, and other animals forced into the show’s distressing challenges experience pain and fear every bit as much as his beloved dog, Bucket—and urging him to leave animals out of the show if it’s renewed for a second season.

“Fear is a factor for all animals, but unlike Fear Factor’s willing human contestants, the rats, snakes, pigeons and other animals used for the show’s stunts never consented to being terrorized and traumatized,” says PETA Director of Animals in Film and Television Lauren Thomasson. “PETA is urging Knoxville to be a person Bucket can be proud of and make this his last chapter of using and abusing animals in the name of ‘entertainment.’”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out thatEvery 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 Knoxville follows.

Dear Johnny,

I’m writing from PETA on behalf of our more than 10.4 million members and supporters worldwide about the animals in Fear Factor: House of Fear and your heartbreaking disregard for their welfare.

We know you love your own dog Bucket immensely. Won’t you please consider that the rats, snakes, pigeons, and other animals forced into the show’s distressing challenges are just as prone to fear, anxiety, and panic as Bucket is, and, like her, they also have the capacity for joy, excitement, and curiosity? We’re sure you would prefer that Bucket and animals like her experience only those positive emotions. Birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects may look different, but their suffering is no less real.

Would you please commit to making the show animal-free if it is renewed for a second season? By doing so, you’d prevent the immense stress these animals endure when they’re exposed to screaming contestants, rough handling, cramped, unfamiliar spaces, and disorienting lights and vibrations. Fear is a factor for them, too. And unlike the willing human contestants, they were forced into the traumatic scenarios and can’t know that it’s part of a TV show. You know better than anyone that there are countless other frightening feats that contestants can participate in that would leave animals in peace.

Bucket would agree that as the face of the reboot, it’s your responsibility to do right by animals, but judging from the premiere, you have grossly let them down and instead perpetuated harmful misunderstandings about them. Please make this the last chapter of taunting and tormenting animals in the name of “entertainment.”

Sincerely,

Lauren Thomasson

Director | Animals in Film and Television

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)